Chapter 17 Study Guide
Manifest Destiny and War
Know all vocabulary.
17.1: Manifest Destiny and Expansion
1. Define Manifest Destiny.
2. Who is James L. O’Sullivan and what was his role in Manifest Destiny?
3. What are the political roots of manifest destiny?
4. What are the social roots of manifest destiny?
5. What are the economic roots of manifest destiny?
6. What are the geographic roots of manifest destiny?
7. What are the religious roots of manifest destiny?
8. How did believers in Manifest Destiny view the west?
9. What was the Homestead Act?
10. Was the Homestead Act a push or a pull to expand west?
11. What is the Webster-Ashburton Treaty?
12. Who were the candidates in the Election of 1844?
13. Why wasn’t John Tyler chosen as a candidate for the election of 1844?
14. What were the main issues of the Election of 1844?
15. What were President Polk’s three goals as President?
16. How was the Oregon Territory dispute settled?
17. What problem arose due to the annexation of Texas?
18. Who was Zachary Taylor?
17.2: The Mexican War
1. How did the Mexican War begin?
2. How does Mexico respond to the U.S. act of aggressions?
3. What reasons did people like Henry David Thoreau give for opposing the Mexican War?
4. Who is Stephen Kearny?
5. What is Stephen Kearny’s involvement with New Mexico during the Mexican War?
6. What is the Bear Flag Republic?
7. How did California become its own country?
8. Who is John C. Fremont?
9. How did the United States gain control of California during the Mexican War?
10. Who is Winfield Scott?
11. List, in order, the major battles fought during the Mexican War.
12. What treaty officially ended the Mexican War?
13. What is the Mexican Cession?
14. Define Cession.
15. What is the Gadsden Purchase?
16. Define transcendentalism.
17. Why did Henry David Thoreau write “Civil Disobedience?”
18. In “Civil Disobedience”, under what condition does Thoreau support breaking the law?
19. Do you agree with Thoreau that it is acceptable to peacefully break a law that has been passed by the
government? Why or why not?
17.3: More Settlers Head West
1. What are the causes of conflicts between Anglo settlers and Mexican Americans and Indians in the
conquered territories?
2. What are the results of the conflicts between Anglo settlers and Mexican Americans and Indians in the
conquered territories??
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
What influences did Mexican Americans and Indians have on Anglo society?
Describe the Mormons.
Who is Joseph Smith?
Who is Brigham Young?
What was the Mormon Trail?
Why did Mormons move to the west?
17.4: The Gold Rush
1. Who are Forty-Niners?
2. What is the California Gold Rush?
3. Why did the forty-niners go to California?
4. What effect did forty-niners have on the population of California?
5. What is Gold Fever?
6. Define prospect.
7. How successful were most of the forty-niners?
8. What role did free enterprise play in the economic life of the mining camps?
9. Define free-enterprise.
10. How were mining camps an example of free-enterprise?
11. Who was Biddy Mason?
12. How were Chinese immigrants similar to and different from other immigrants who came to California?
13. What [political effect resulted from California’s rapid population growth?
Possible Essay Topics
1. Discuss one economic root of Manifest Destiny.
2. Discuss one political root of Manifest Destiny.
3. Discuss one religious root of Manifest Destiny.
4. Discuss one conflict that arose as a result of the encounters among Mexican Americans, Native
Americans and Anglos in the Mexican Cession. Was this conflict solved? How?
5. Why did Mexico declare war against the United States? Was Mexico declaring war against the United
States justified?
6. Explain one way the discovery of gold in California affect the region.
7. Summarize how Oregon became part of the United States.