Amanda Goncalves
AP US History
Chapter 13 Kts: p.340 – 364
Racial Justification – p.340; through the 1840s Americans defended the idea of westward expansion by
citing the superiority of the “American race” white people of northern European origins
Opposition to Further Expansion – p.341; Henry Clay and many other politicians feared that territorial
expansion would reopen the painful controversy over slavery and threaten the stability of the Union
Stephen Austin – immigrant from Missouri who established the 1st legal American settlement in TX in
1822; created centers of power of which competed with the Mexican government
San Jacinto – p.342; Battle of San Jacinto (near present-day Houston) General Sam Houston defeated
Mexican army and took Santa Anna prisoner
- Santa Anna eventually signed a treaty giving TX its independence
Opposition to Annexation – many American northerners opposed acquiring a larger new slave territory,
increasing southern votes in Congress + in the Electoral College; one specific opponent was President
Jackson
Disputed Claims – p.343; Britain + the U.S. claimed sovereignty in the region (Oregon country) Britain =
on the basis of explorations in the 1790s by George Vancouver (naval officer) America = on the basis of
simultaneous claims by Robert Gray (fur trader
-signed treaty in 1818 that allowed citizens of each country equal access to the territory (arrangement
known as “join occupation”)
Conflict between Settlers + Indians – over Oregon country
Oregon Trail – 2,000 miles long; from Independence across the Great Plains and through the South Pass
of the Rocky Mountains
Life on the Trail – families divided tasks along gender lines: men driving or repairing the wagons or
hunting game; women cooking, washing clothes, caring for kids
James K. Polk – Strong supporter of annexation; won election of 1844
Compromise over Oregon – British accepted JKP’s proposal on June 15, 1846 Senate approved a treaty
that fixed the boundary at the 49th parallel (still there today)
TX boundary in dispute – Texans claimed the Rio Grande as their western + southern border; Mexico
claimed the border had always been the Nueces River (north of the Rio Grande)
American interference in California – (started arriving 1st) maritime traders + captains of pacific whaling
ships who stopped to barter goods or buy supplies; then merchants, then pioneering farmers
Fall of the Slidell Mission – Polk encouraged Minister John Slidell to try to buy of the Mexicans but
Mexican leaders declined the offer to purchase disputed territories
Opposition to the War – Whigs claimed Polk had deliberately helped cause the border incident
Bear Flag Revolution – a well-armed exploring party led by John C. Frémont + the American Navy
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - agreement between the U.S. + Mexico; Mexico agreed to cede California
+ New Mexico to the U.S, also: acknowledge the Rio Grande as the boundary line of TX; the U.S.
promised to assume any financial claims its new citizens had against Mexico + to pay Mexico $15 million
Wilmot Provision – amendment to the appropriation bill prohibiting slavery in any territory acquired
from Mexico; passed the House, failed in the Senate
Competing Plans – to extend MO Compromise line through the new territories to the Pacific coast or
popular sovereignty
Free-Soil Party – important political force; signaled the inability of the existing parties to contain the
political passions slavery was creating
- Important part of a process that would lead to the collapse of the 2nd Party system in the 1850s
49ers – California migrants who abandoned everything they had in hopes of finding gold in California;
95% men
Indian Slavery – white vigilantes hunted down + killed thousands of Indians in California 1850s – 1870s
Sect. – in the North every state accept 1 adopted a resolution demanding the prohibition of slavery in
the territories ; southern leaders began to talk about secession from the Union
Clay’s Proposal Solution – took several measures that had been proposed separately, then combined
them into a single piece of legislation; presented to the Senate on January 29th, 1850; bill’s provisions
include: admission of CA as a free state, formation of territory governments in the rest of the lands
acquired from Mexico without restrictions on slavery; abolition of the slave trade but not slavery itself in
D.C. and a new more effective fugitive slave law
New leaders – William H. Seward, Jefferson Davis, Stephen A. Douglas
Temporary Compromise - Compromise of 1850; a victory of self interest; Douglas broke up Clay’s
“omnibus bill” so that the representatives from each state could vote more specifically for what they did
and didn’t want
Opposition to the Fugitive Slave Acts – northern opposition intensified after 1850 when southerners
began occasionally appearing in northern states to pursue people they claimed were fugitives – North:
mobs formed to prevent enforcement of the law = southerners angered + upset over what had been
their victory in the Compromise of 1850