Download Ch 17 Questions and Vocabulary EXEMPLARY

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Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy 1841-1848
Chapter 17 Questions
1. Why were Whigs, like Clay and Webster, unhappy with Tyler’s accession to the presidency?
Clay and Webster had pushed for Harrison’s election because he was agreeable and malleable. They planned to pull
the strings behind the scenes. When Tyler became president, this Democrat in Whig’s clothing turned out to be very
confident and not very open to manipulation.
2. What issues caused tension between Britain and the United States?
Britain loaned the US money during the Panic of 1837, money that the US had not paid back, nor seemed to be
inclined to pay back. There were border disputes in Maine and Oregon, and the British considered the Americans to
be little more than gun-toting barbarians. They made fun of Americans for having no manners (Texas Mini-dress).
There were also rumors that Britain was looking to buy California, too.
3. Why was Texas annexed into the United States at the time that it was? Why not earlier or later?
Britain had begun sniffing around the new Republic of Texas with an eye toward diplomatic relations. They were
looking for a source for cotton because the South was heavily burdened with tariffs, while RoT was not. British
abolitionists were looking to convince Texas to free their slaves, hoping that the rest of the Gulf States would follow
suit. In any case, by having an alliance with Texas, it allowed Britain to sidestep the Monroe Doctrine. It allowed for
there to be a hostile presence to the south. As the US began to hear of these stirrings, they decided to act quickly to
bring Texas into the Union.
4. What circumstances resulted in the peaceful settlement of the Oregon dispute between Britain and the United
States?
Thanks to Oregon Fever, the Americans had more people settled in the area, so the British “began to see the wisdom
in a peaceful settlement before being engulfed by their neighbors.”
5. What was Polk’s four-point program as president and how successful was he in accomplishing each part of his
plan?
Polk wanted California, the Oregon issue to be settled, an independent treasury, and a lower tariff. He did it all in
four years.
6. Why did the United States and Mexico go to war in 1846?
Polk tried to buy California from Mexico for $25 million. Things were tense with Mexico. The former Texans (now
Americans) sued Mexico for $3.25 million for damages and losses incurred during the Texas Revolution. After losing
that war, Mexico withdrew their ambassador from the US, and diplomatic relations were severed. There was a
boundary dispute over Texas. Mexico considered the Nueces River to be the southern boundary of Texas, while
Texans (and the US) considered the Rio Grande to be that border. John Slidell is sent to Mexico City where he was not
received. Polk sent Zachary Taylor and his troops into the no-man’s land between the Nueces and Rio Grande.
Mexican troops crossed the border and attacked the Americans, killing or wounding sixteen. Polk asks Congress to
declare war.
7. Who led the major military campaigns during the Mexican War and how successful was each campaign?
Stephen Kearny led soldiers over the Santa Fe Trail to Santa Fe, which was easily captured.
John Fremont helped overthrow Mexican rule in California (Bear Flag Revolt).
Zachary Taylor was in charge of the main attack, fighting his way across the Rio Grande, reaching Buena Vista.
Winfield Scott pushed inland from Vere Cruz to Mexico City.
8. What were the provisions of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
It confirmed the title to Texas, gave the Mexican Cession, which included California (increased our landmass by
1/3…largest acquisition of land in our history…even bigger than the Louisiana Purchase). In exchange, the US agreed
to pay $15 million (ostensibly for California), and to assume the damage claims from the former Texans of $3.25
million.
9. How did the Wilmot Proviso reveal strong sectional differences?
David Wilmot of Pennsylvania made his proviso, stipulating that slavery would not be allowed in the Mexican Cession.
The amendment passed in the House of Representatives twice (population in the north had swelled because of
immigration, so there were more representatives), but stalled in the Senate because of the strong opinions about
slavery.
Vocabulary
John Tyler the tenth President of the United States. He was also, briefly, the tenth Vice President, elected to that office on
the 1840 Whig ticket with William Henry Harrison.
The Caroline – a Canadian steamer that was offered aid by American citizens. This act led to conflict with Britain.
Annexation of Texas the 1845 incorporation of the Republic of Texas into the United States of America, which
was admitted to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845.
Oregon Fever Many Eastern and Midwestern farmers and city dwellers were dissatisfied with their lives and began
moving up the Oregon trail to the Willamette Valley. This free land was widely publicized.
Manifest Destiny the 19th-century doctrine or belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American
continents was both justified and inevitable.
Wilmot Proviso designed to eliminate slavery within the land acquired as a result of the Mexican War (184648). Soon after the war began, President James K. Polk sought the appropriation of $2 million as part of a bill
to negotiate the terms of a treaty.
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo officially entitled the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement between
the United States of America and the Mexican Republic,[1] is the peace treaty signed on February 2, 1848, in
the Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo (now a neighborhood of Mexico City) between the United States and Mexicothat
ended the Mexican–American War (1846–48).
Mexican American War The Mexican–American War, also known as the Mexican War, the U.S.–Mexican War or the
Invasion of Mexico, was an armed conflict between the United States of America and the United Mexican States from
1846 to 1848.
California a western U.S. state, stretches from the Mexican border along the Pacific for nearly 900 miles. Its terrain
includes cliff-lined beaches, redwood forest, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Central Valley farmland and the Mojave
Desert.
James K Polk 11th President of the United States