Manifest
Destiny
Geography
Bee
Q: What did Americans call their
desire to spread out & claim land
from the Atlantic to Pacific
Ocean?
A: Manifest Destiny
Q: What New York
newspaperman coined the term
“Manifest Destiny”?
A: John O’Sullivan
Q: In one single person’s lifetime,
the United States had grown how
many times its original size?
A: three times its
original size
Q: After exhausting the fur
supply, mountain men found
work as
A: guides
Q: What U.S. president agreed to
annex Texas?
A: Polk
Q: The Mexican ranchos had
which group of people working
the land in exchange for food &
shelter.
A: Native Americans
Q: Jim Bridger and Kit Carson
lived in the West and worked as
A: Guides
Q: Which territory had a diverse
population of Seminole Indians,
Spanish colonists, & runaway
slaves?
A: Florida
Q: What made slave owners in
Georgia angry about the Florida
territory?
A: runaway slaves escaped there
Q: What made plantation owners
in Georgia angry about the Florida
territory?
A: Seminole Indians crossed into
Georgia to attack their farms
Q: What was America’s biggest
complaint about how Spain
governed Florida?
A: Spain was so far away that
their governing was weak
Q: What military hero invaded
Florida in 1818 to chase back the
Seminoles?
A: Andrew Jackson
(Andrew Jackson also overthrew
the Spanish government & took
over the territory.)
Q: What message did Secretary of
State John Quincy Adams send to
Spain regarding Florida?
A: “Govern or Get Out”
Q: What crop was the land in
Texas best suited for?
A: cotton
Q: What did all settlers of Austin’s
Texas have to agree to become?
A: Mexican citizens & Catholics
Q: What term describes Texans of
Mexican descent?
A: Tejanos
Q: What did the country of
Mexico outlaw in 1829 that
bothered a lot of Americans
moving into Texas?
A: slavery
Q: Who was the hotheaded young
lawyer that called for a revolution
against the Mexican government?
A: William Travis
Q: Who was the angry Mexican
dictator/president/military leader
that met with Stephen Austin to
discuss the conflicts?
A: General Antonio Lopez de
Santa Anna
Q: What was the name of the
mission that Mexicans took
control over in San Antonio?
A: the Alamo
Q: Who was the famous
frontiersman & former
congressman from Tennessee?
A: Davy Crockett
Q: Who was the well-known Texas
“freedom fighter” for whom a
knife is named?
A: James Bowie
Q: By what ratio were Texans
outnumbered at the Battle of the
Alamo?
A: ten to one
Q: What did Santa Anna order his
troops to do to all of the survivors
of the Battle of the Alamo?
A: execute them
Q: Who was the commander of
the Texas revolutionary army?
A: Sam Houston
Q: At what river did Santa Anna
catch up with Sam Houston?
A: San Jacinto River
Q: What did Houston shout
repeatedly during the Battle of
San Jacinto to help keep his
troops focused?
A: “Remember the Alamo!”
Q: When Texans captured Santa
Anna, what did they force him to
sign?
A: a treaty giving Texas their
independence
Q: What was the nickname for the
state of Texas?
A: the Lone Star Republic
Q: What term means to add a
territory to a country?
A: annex
Q: Under which President did
Texas officially become one of the
United States?
A: President James K. Polk
Q: (Delaware was the 1st state.)
Which did Texas become?
A: the 28th state
Q: What did settlers call the
enormous, tree-covered
wilderness stretching from the
Rockies to the Pacific to Alaska?
A: Oregon Country
Q: Oregon was claimed by four
nations in 1819, including Russia
and Spain. What were the other
two countries?
A: the U.S. & Britain
Q: Whose expedition led to the
United States’ interest in the
Oregon Country?
A: Lewis & Clark
Q: Who was the young fur trapper
that discovered a passage through
the Rockies that was much more
accessible for travelers?
A: Jedediah Smith
Q: What was the name of this
passage?
A: the South Pass
Q: What types of settlers mainly
traveled into the Oregon Country?
A: missionaries
Q: What term describes people
who accept a new religion?
A: converts
Q: Who were these missionaries
eager to convert to Christianity?
A: Native Americans
Q: What did most settlers to the
Oregon Country travel in?
A: prarie schooners
Q: What campaign slogan for
James K. Polk described the fight
over the latitude of the U.S.’s
claims to the Oregon Country?
A: “fifty four forty or fight!”
Q: At what line of latitude did the
United States & Great Britain
agree to divide the Oregon
Country?
A: 49th parallel
Q: How did Mexico respond when
Polk offered to buy the territories
of California & New Mexico?
A: the refused to see him
Q: What river did Texans claim
was their border between the
United States & Mexico?
A: the Rio Grande River
Q: What river did Mexicans claim
was their border between Texas &
Mexico?
A: the Nueces River
Q: When Mexican soldiers fired
shots on Texans near the Rio
Grande River, what did Congress
do?
A: declare war on Mexico
Q: Under the direction of General
Stephen Kearny, what did the
United States Army do in New
Mexico?
A: they occupied it (took control)
Q: When troops took over
Northern California, what
emblem did they draw on their
flag?
A: a bear
Q: Who was the “rough & ready”
no-nonsense general who fought
Santa Anna near the Buena Vista
ranch?
A: Zachary Taylor
Q: At what castle did Americans &
Mexicans continue their battle?
A: Chapultepec
Q: What do Mexicans call the six
heroic cadets who chose to die
fighting rather than to surrender?
A: Los Ninos Heroes
(the heroic children)
Q: At what capital city did Mexico
finally surrender to the United
States?
A: Mexico City
Q: What treaty did Mexico & the
United States agree to in 1848?
A: the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo
Q: In this treaty, what did Mexico
agree to give up?
A: half of their territory
Q: What term means to “give up”
something?
A: cede or cession
Q: What did the United States
agree to give Mexico in return?
A: $15 million
Q: Under the terms of the treaty,
who did the United States agree
to protect?
A: Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago
Q: What term describes a grant of
land made by the Mexican
government, used to raise cattle
& crops?
A: rancho
Q: What term described the
typical Spanish-speaking
Californian?
A: Californio
Q: What became California’s most
important industry in the 1830s?
A: cattle ranching
Q: What did a number of
Mountain Men leave behind as
their legacy?
A: their personal journals
Q: What were the names of one
of the couples who first traveled
the Oregon Trail?
A: Marcus & Narcissa Whitman or
Henry & Eliza Spalding
Q: Why were these couples
traveling to the Oregon Country?
A: they aimed to convert Native
Americans to Christianity
Q: What Native American tribe
were the Whitmans not able to
convert & actually deeply
offended?
A: the Cayuse Indians
Q: What Native American tribe
did the Spaldings succeed in
converting to Christianity?
A: the Nez Perce Indians
Q: What term describes a plot of
land where pioneers could build a
home, farm, or ranch?
A: homestead
Q: In what town did many of the
pioneer women meet to begin
their journey west?
A: Independence, Missouri
Q: Approximately how long was
the journey west that covered
2,000 miles?
A: four to six months
Q: What was the worst killer for
pioneers heading west?
A: disease
Q: What religion is also referred
to as the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day (Modern) Saints?
A: Mormons
Q: Who was the leader of the
Mormon church who persuaded
others to join him in Utah?
A: Brigham Young
Q: Next to what body of water in
Utah did the Mormons settle?
A: Great Salt Lake
Q: What Mormon practice did
many people find to be most
offensive?
A: polygamy (having more than
one wife)
Q: Who did an angry mob
(resenting the Mormon’s power
and wealth) kill in 1844?
A: Joseph Smith
Q: What was the main reason
Mormons chose to settle in the
west?
A: freedom from religious
persecution
Q: Who was the first man to spot
gold in a river in Northern
California?
A: James Marshall
Q: What term describes the
people (almost all young men)
who joined the rush for gold in
California in 1849?
A: forty-niners
Q: What was extremely scarce
about life in California during the
gold rush?
A: women
Q: What made the gold camps
rough places?
A: no police
Q: What was the greatest legacy
left by the gold miners?
A: California’s population grew
large enough to become the first
western state
Q: What did the Chinese call the
“Gold Mountain” in California in
1848?
A: Gam Saan
Q: By 1852, what percentage of
California’s population were
Chinese?
A: 10%
Q: What law did California’s state
legislature pass in 1852 that
discriminated against the
Chinese?
A: required foreign miners to pay
a monthly fee for a license to
mine
Q: What Californian town did
many Chinese immigrants settle
into, which is today still the
largest Chinese population in the
United States?
A: San Francisco