Virginia Company of London: One of two joint-stock companies formed to create settlements in the English territories in the New World; creates the first successful English colony in America: Jamestown

“The Starving Time”: The worst time of the Jamestown settlement, during the winter of 1609-1610; more than 80 percent of the English settlers died and the remaining settlers resorted to cannibalism to survive. It occurred largely because the settlers were unwilling and unable to plant their own food. That unwillingness to work also led some to steal food from the Indians, resulting in conflict

Powhatan Confederacy: American Indian nation in the Virginia and North Carolina region; named for chief Powhatan who established a brief peace with the English settlers at Jamestown during the 1610s after Chief Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas, married John Rolfe.

Opechancanough’s Wars: Named for the brother of Powhatan, these were bloody raids by Indians against the Jamestown, killing over 350 settlers in 1622-23, and as many again in 1642. They symbolize the conflict with the first peoples as the colonists encroached on to Indian lands but they ended with Opechancanough’s death in 1642.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676): A conflict between English settlers from the frontier against the older established settlements, led by Nathaniel Bacon. It was sparked by a conflict with Indians tribes along the Potomac River, but it had its roots in the dissatisfaction many impoverished frontier settlers had with the government in Jamestown. Bacon and his rebels burned Jamestown to the ground in protest. Some historians see the rebellion as a forerunner to the American Revolution

Plymouth Colony: Settlement established in 1620 by English Puritan Separatists (Saints or Pilgrims) and non-Separatist merchant adventurers who sailed aboard the Mayflower.

Squanto: English speaking Indian living among the Wampanoag who helped the Pilgrims, teaching them how to grow maize (Indian corn) and thereby providing the Pilgrims with a steady source of food. For the early years of the settlement, relations with the Indians were peaceful.

Pequot’s War (1634-37): As the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies grew, they came into conflict with Indians trying to hold on to ancestral lands. Problems began when Narragansett allies to the Dutch were killed as they traveled through Pequot land and then the Dutch retaliated, killing the Pequot chief. After a brief peace, in 1636 the Pequot were implicated in the death of a settler and Massachusetts Bay sends a force of ninety men to destroy the Indian settlement. In retaliation for that, the Pequot attack Saybrook and Wethersfield, Connecticut. The colonials respond with the help of the Narragansett and destroy the Pequot settlement on the Mystic River, killing 700 tribesmen and capturing the rest. In the peace settlement, the Pequot are eliminated as a tribe and distributed among the Mohegan and the Narragansett.

King Philip’s War (1675-76): Named after Wampanoag chief Metacomet (also Metacom), whom the English called King Philip, it began when Indians murdered an Indian near Plymouth; English settlers executed three Wampanoag men for the murder; Metacom retaliated by destroying the town of Swansea. War raged in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Colonials defeated the Wampanoag and forced them into submission, taking their land. Some calling it the bloodiest war in American history (per capita), the war showed the extremely violent nature of life in the colonies and represents an end to the Indian-Settler violence in Eastern New England

New Amsterdam: Capital of the Dutch colony of New Netherlands, founded in 1626 when Governor Peter Minuit bought Manhattan Island from the Indians. The Dutch forged a very profitable fur trade with the Iroquois in the area. Britain took over the colony in 1664 without firing a shot and it becameNew York. The British maintained the trade with the Iroquois, but relations were not always peaceful.

Pennsylvania: Devout pacifists and believers in the equality of all people, the Quakers made a cosmopolitan society that welcomed all races and religions. William Penn outlawed slavery. And unlike other the English colonizers, he bought land from the Indians and made the Indians welcome.

South Carolina: Founded by settlers from the English Caribbean colony of Barbados in 1670 to make money and provide food (rice) and goods (indigo--the source of a blue dye for cloth) for the Barbadian Adventurers. England intended it to act as a buffer against Spanish territories in Florida; slavery was its labor system, black slaves soon outnumbered whites and after slaves rose up in the Stono Rebellion of 1739, white militia (civilian soldiers) were organized to control blacks.

Albany Plan of Union, (1754): Benjamin Franklin's plan to unite the colonies in British North America to protect them against Indian attack, and form an alliance with the Iroquois. It did not call for independence. Some supported it, but a majority of colonies preferred jealously to guard their own power.

French and Indian War, (1754-1763): (a.k.a. Seven Years War in Europe) Last of the wars for empire between Britain and France; fought throughout the world, but its decisive battles occurred in North America, notably the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759. France lost and gave up all claims to North America. The war ended the period of salutary neglect, as Parliament demanded that the colonies pay for their own defense. The war exposed differences between the British in England and the colonials, as the British looked to their imperial interests and colonials looked to their local interests.

Proclamation of 1763: British law banning settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to end conflict with the Indians.

Battle of Lexington and Concord: First battles of the War of Independence: Major General Thomas Gage, British Military Governor, sent troops to capture two rebel leaders: John Hancock and Sam Adams. Boston’s Committee of Safety sent Paul Revere and William Dawes to warn the Patriots. On April 19th, the redcoats met the Minutemen on Lexington Green, someone fired a shot and war began. British troops routed the militia, but suffered over 250 casualties on their return to Boston. 93 colonials died in the battles.

First Continental Congress: Meeting called in September 1774 to protest the Coercive Acts. All but Georgia attended. Such notables as George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Samuel Adams attended. Delegates agreed to impose a trade embargo on England
 
 

The Revolution in Art

Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775): First major battle of the war; 2,200 British redcoats fought to take the heights north of Boston. Overdressed on a blistering hot day and with the colonists holding the better position on Breed’s Hill, wave after wave of British soldiers attacked and was mowed down. The British eventually won the battle but it was a Pyrhhic victory as they suffered 1,054 casualties.

Second Continental Congress: Called in May 1775, after the Battle of Bunker Hill. Initially, delegates tried to restore peace with the Olive Branch Petition, but when King George III refused the entreaty, delegates increased troop mobilization, placed George Washington in command, and hotly debated independence.

Battle of Brooklyn Heights (August 1776): Among the first defeats for Washington’s Continental Army, it occurred on Long Island and enabled the British to occupy New York City and make it their headquarters for the rest of the war. More importantly, it demonstrated Washington’s choice of military tactics – Fabian tactics  – meeting the enemy on the field, but making sure of an escape route; or, in other words, running away to live and fight another day.

Battle of Trenton (December 1776): Washington’s daring winter crossing of the Delaware River surprised the Hessians (German mercenaries fighting for Britain) and led to the Continental Army’s first victory and a morale boost. It demonstrated that the U.S. would be most successful employing hit-and-run, guerrilla tactics against the much stronger British force.

Battle of Saratoga, NY,  (October 1777): Defeat of British under Gen. John “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne and the turning point of the war: it led to an American alliance with France and eventually Spain

Washington winters at Valley Forge (December 1777 – June 1778): Perhaps the darkest and hardest time of the war for the Continental Army under Washington.  Ill-equipped, demoralized, hungry, and on the brink of defeat, the troops received proper training from Baron von Steuben, a German who came to America to help the cause of Independence. The troops were whipped into shape and, with Ben Franklin’s establishing the alliance with France, ready to face the British in the spring.

Battle of King’s Mountain (October 1780): American victory in the Carolinas that showed the effectiveness of the U.S. troops under Gen. Nathaniel Greene (known as Washington’s “ablest general”). After it Greene was named Southern Commander. His troops chased the retreating British under Lord Cornwallis to Guilford Court House (Greensboro) where another Pyrrhic victory for the British marked the beginning of the end British control in the U.S.

Battle of Yorktown (August – October 1781): Just miles from the site of Jamestown, the U.S., under the command of George Washington and with considerable help from the French, defeated the British after a long siege and Cornwallis surrendered, ending the war.

Peace of Paris (September 1783): Treaty ending the War of Independence, negotiated by Ben Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens: with it the U.S. gained control of all the land east of the Mississippi River, north of Florida, and south of British Canada; U.S. gained fishing rights in the Grand Banks. In November, the British evacuated New York City. A month later, General Washington resigned his commission as Commander of Continental Army, showing that a civilian government would run the U.S.

Articles of Confederation: The first U.S. constitution, ratified in 1781. It created a loose union of states and a federal government with little power. Its weaknesses led to continued conflict between and among states, a disorganized foreign policy, and a generally ineffectual national government

Shays’ Rebellion: Uprising by farmers in western Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays to protest debt and foreclosures on property by creditors; armed (and usually drunk) farmers took over courts to block judgments against their farms; some marched on Boston and rumors abounded that they were on a rampage and heading to Annapolis (the U.S. capital) to overthrow the government; the inability of the federal government to stop the uprising showed the weakness of the Articles and caused a national emergency.

Separation of Powers: Built upon Montesquieu’s ideas of (divided sovereignty), this system divides power and authority among three branches of government so that government will not become too powerful.

Checks and Balances: System that gives each branch of government a check on the power of the other branches and thereby balances power among the three. The military example involves the war-making power. The President is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. As such, he controls the military. But the constitution gives Congress the sole power to declare war. In an era when the U.S. often fights without a formal declaration of war, Congress has needed to find new means to control the President’s war-making power, such as through the War Powers Act of 1974.

The Second Amendment: “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Nowadays a controversial right of the people, it was understood to satisfy two necessities of the early nation. First, it protected citizens from the excessive or unjust encroachment of government. Secondly, when combined with sufficient training and drilling of militia, it would help the U.S. protect itself against attack, especially Indian attack. State militias will take part in numerous Indian wars between Washington’s administration and the Civil War. The state militia eventually evolved into the National Guard.

Whiskey Rebellion (1794): Minor uprising that erupted when farmers in western Pennsylvania refused to pay a federal excise tax on whiskey. Farmers roughed up federal marshals; President Washington led troops to stop the rebellion; by the time they arrived, the farmers had dispersed. Showed that the federal government, unlike during Shays' Rebellion would not tolerate and had the power to put down public disturbances.

Treaty of Greenville: As Americans moved into the Ohio Valley, they again came into conflict with local Indians; this time, the Shawnee and Ottawa. The American military, under General “Mad Anthony” Wayne (a hero of the Revolutionary War), led a force of about 2,600 troops to build Fort Greenville and other outposts to protect settlers. The troops routed the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers (near present-day Toledo, Ohio). In 1795, the Indians agreed to the treaty that paid them $10,000 per year for their land in southern Ohio and Indiana, and enclaves at Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, and Vincennes, Illinois.

Pinckney’s Treaty: Treaty negotiated by Thomas Pinckney, minister to Spain, to settle a dispute over the boundary between the U.S. and Spain in West Florida. Spain claimed all land south of the Tennessee River. The treaty settled on a line at 31 degrees latitude, from the Chattahoochee River to the Mississippi.
 
 

Proclamation of Neutrality: The core plank in George Washington’s foreign policy was that the U.S. avoid involvement in European conflicts and protect America’s interests. By 1792, the French Revolution had devolved into “the Reign of Terror” as over two years at least 1,285 citizens lost their heads at the guillotine, including King Louis XVI and several revolutionary leaders. And France declared war on Austria and Prussia. Britain joined the fight against France. Public opinion in the U.S. divided. Jeffersonians sided with France—Jefferson suggested that for revolutions to succeed sometimes you have to spill some blood and the U.S. ambassador to France, James Monroe, declared his support for the Revolution in the French legislature. Federalists sided with England. Washington knew that for its own good the U.S. had to stay out of it and try to continue to trade with both sides. In 1793, he issued a proclamation of neutrality that stated America would remain “friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers.” France refused to recognize U.S. neutrality, insisting the alliance from the War of Independence was still in effect. Britain refused to accept that the U.S. could truly be neutral when it traded with France.

Citizen Genet: Amid the growing conflict in Europe in 1793, French diplomat Edmond Charles Genet arrived in Charleston and began organizing French sympathizers. He paid American merchant marines to seize British ships and disrupt trade in the British West Indies. In Philadelphia, the U.S. capital at the time, he conspired to begin a war to take Spanish territories in Florida or Louisiana. The Washington administration demanded France recall its minister, but when it became clear that Genet would probably lose his head, the U.S. agreed to give him asylum provided he stop his mischief. Genet’s actions turned many in the U.S. against France. Although he continued his unyielding support for the French Republic, even Jefferson thought that Genet had gone too far.

Jay’s Treaty: Under the Treaty of Paris (1783), Britain was supposed to give up control of land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi. Deep into the 1790s, it had yet to relinquish control of posts in the Ohio Valley. President Washington sent Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Jay to settle that issue, as well as concerns about trade between the U.S. and the British West Indies, and reparations for British seizure of goods between 1792 and 1794. To satisfy America’s goals, Jay gave in on several important British demands, notably British definitions of neutrality and contraband trade (closing off trade of food supplies and naval stores with France), unrestricted traffic on the Mississippi and free trade between the U.S. and Canada. Jeffersonians criticized the treaty for restricting trade with the British West Indies, for granting British vessels most-favored nation status, for agreeing that American debts to British merchants would be paid back by the national government, and for closing off trade with France. They noted that the treaty gave no protection against impressment of American sailors or protection of American trade under international law. The general public also rejected the treaty. Despite its weaknesses, the President signed the treaty and pushed it through the Senate in 1795. The greatest implication of the treaty was its deepening the rift between Federalists and Jeffersonians.

Washington's Farewell Address: As the election of 1796 approached, George Washington declared that he would not run for another term, setting the precedent of two terms for President that was not broken until Franklin Roosevelt ran for a third term in 1940. As he left office the General set another precedent: giving advice to the nation.
    He celebrated American liberty and called for national unity. He also sternly warned against political or regional parties: "To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. . . . The spirit of party . . . unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism."
    Referring to the situation in Europe, he insisted that American independence depended on neutrality and flexibility. It was wrong for Americans to hold a grudge against Britain or to insist on permanent links to France. Instead, the U.S. must try to be a friend to all countries: "nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. [Indeed}, against the insidious wiles of foreign influence . . . the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since . . . foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. . . . [We] may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. . . . It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world."
    But avoiding partisanship and involvement in the war in Europe were difficult policies to keep because Britain and France tried to force the US to pick sides in the Napoleonic Wars and because of natural, yet opposing, sympathies of Federalists and Republicans. Except for a brief moment of nationalism after the War of 1812, the U.S. has always had political parties. From a foreign policy perspective, however, neutrality would be declared policy until after WWII

XYZ Affair: Tensions with France increased as John Adams took office. The French continued to refuse to accept James Monroe’s replacement, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, causing Federalists to clamor for war. To try to resolve the disagreements, Adams sent Federalist John Marshall and Republican Elbridge Gerry to France to meet with French Foreign Minister Tallyrand. Three agents for the French, named X, Y, and Z in Adams’ report to Congress, demanded the Americans provide the French with a $12 million loan and pay a bribe of $250,000 to see Tallyrand. Such bribes were common at the time, but seldom was the amount so high. The Americans refused and returned home. Many Federalists again demanded war, saying “millions for defense but not one cent for tribute.” Adams resisted a formal declaration of war, but by the end of 1798, the U.S. and France were in a naval war in the West Indies. Adams asked Washington to come out of retirement to lead an army, with Hamilton second in command. As the Hamilton wing of the Federalist Party prepared for war and a feared French invasion, Adams negotiated peace with Napoleon Bonaparte. In the Convention of 1800, Napoleon refused to compensate the U.S. for its naval losses but agreed to end the alliance, thus ending the war.

Louisiana Purchase: As Spain gave its Louisiana Territory to the French, President Jefferson worried that Napoleon would close the Port of New Orleans to U.S. traffic, making shipping on the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee Rivers too expensive or even impossible. Jefferson planned to buy New Orleans for $9 million, but Napoleon offered the whole of the Louisiana Territory for $15 million. Although he had no clear constitutional authority to do so, Jefferson made the purchase. The total amount of land bought according to the treaty was imprecise, but it at least included ‘all the lands drained by the waters of the Mississippi River.’ The purchase more than doubled the size of the U.S., extending the nation west to the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains.

Lewis and Clark Expedition: Trip by the Corps of Discovery, led by Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and William Clark (1770-1838) with the help of Shoshone Indian guide Sacajawea, to explore the West. Although planned well before, it took on new importance after the Louisiana Purchase. It began in St. Louis in 1804, went along the Missouri River through the Rocky Mountains onto the Columbia River and to the Pacific Ocean. Returning to Washington in 1807, the expedition was a great success. They did not find the hoped-for total water route to the Pacific, but Lewis and Clark mapped the territory, brought back animal and plant artifacts, and firmed up the U.S. claim to the region. They also started an explosion of commerce in the region, expanding the fur trade. Both men received new appointments in government: Clark was made Superintendent of Indian Affairs; Lewis, once Jefferson personal secretary, was named Governor of the Territory of Upper Louisiana. Unable to take the fame, unable to focus on the publication of his journal, caught up in difficult negotiations between the Indians and settlers, prone to alcoholism, and deeply in debt, Lewis took his life in September 1809.
 

Meriwether Lewis

Route of the Corps of Discovery (red outbound, blue inbound)

Links for Lewis and Clark:

National Geographic

Lewis and Clark

Corps of Discovery

Archive

Lewis & Clark

Embargo Act of 1807:With Britain and France both pressing in on American trade during the Napoleonic Wars, Jefferson sought an answer in ending trade with both. The Embargo Act forbade all international trade to and from American ports. The Act backfired badly. Britain and France were unimpressed and American farmers, merchants, and sea traders (particularly in New England) protested vigorously. Many evaded the law. In March 1809, Congress thought better of the rule and announced that the more limited Non-Importation Act controlled in the situation allowing resumption of all trade except with Britain and France. Jefferson reluctantly accepted it.

“War Hawks”: A faction in the Congress elected in 1810, they were a group of young republicans from lower south and the west who demanded that America be respected overseas. They included: Henry Clay (KY), Felix Grundy (TN), and John C. Calhoun (SC), among others. They insisted that Britain’s refusal to accept American neutrality and allow America’s free movement on the seas were worthy of war. They were able to vote Clay in as Speaker of the House. Clay placed other War Hawks into important committees and had almost complete control of Congress. The War Hawks could not ignore the impressment of American sailors by British fleets, or the Indian raids on the west, and using these issues they eventually convinced President James Madison to go to war

War of 1812: Sometimes called the “Second War of Independence” it was the war between the U.S. and Britain that arose out of America’s inability to remain neutral in the war between Britain and Napoleon in Europe. Battles raged in the Great Lakes region as U.S. invaded Canada, destroying the town of York (now Toronto); in return the English attacked Washington, DC, destroying the White House. The war ended in a tie with the Treaty of Ghent. The war and treaty led to a long-standing peace with England. Important battles included the attack at Fort McHenry at which Francis Scott Key wrote the “Star Spangled Banner”; and the Battle of New Orleans, which actually occurred after the treaty was signed and made Andrew Jackson a national hero.

Hartford Convention: A December 1814 meeting of New England Federalists who opposed the war. Now it was the Federalists who claimed the power to nullify federal laws and suggested the possibility of secession (leaving the Union). The convention also offered several Constitutional amendments, notably: abolishing the three-fifths compromise (not counting the slaves at all); requiring a two-thirds vote to declare war, prohibiting foreign-born citizens from holding any government office (not just President and Vice-President); limiting a person to one term as President; and (to eliminate Virginia's hold on the office) forbidding successive presidents from the same state.

Era of Good Feelings: The end of the War of 1812 ushered in a new spirit of nationalism in America, which brought on the demise of the Federalist party. Political in-fighting lessened and James Monroe won about 85% of the Electoral College vote for President in 1816 and 99.6% of the EC vote in 1820. Two important military consequences resulted. (1) The country became determined never to be invaded again. It created a series of forts along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts to defend the nation and it developed a policy of preemption—attack a threatening power, before it attacked us. The policy helps explain America’s militarism in the nineteenth century. (2) It established a long-standing peace with Great Britain. The British were tired of fighting America and so they often sided with the U.S. in international disputes, including giving backing to the Monroe Doctrine.

Conquest of Florida: The Pinkney Treaty of 1795 settled a border dispute between Spanish territory east of the Mississippi and the U.S. by extending the southern border of Georgia (31 degrees) west to the Mississippi River, giving the U.S. much of Alabama and Mississippi and the Spanish West Florida (including Mobile Bay). Tensions, however, picked up again as Americans drifted southward testing the line. After repeated skirmishes between Seminole Indians and American settlers along the border, the U.S. ordered Andrew Jackson to the region. He led a force that did more than just “pacify” the border; it took over Florida. In the 1819 peace treaty, Spain gave Florida to the U.S. in return for a part of Texas that the Americans claimed. The Seminoles continued to fight into the 1840s, but finally were defeated.

Monroe Doctrine: U.S. foreign policy created by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and declared by President James Monroe in his “State of the Union” message to Congress in 1823. It states that European countries should not try to create new colonies in the Western Hemisphere because the U.S. would oppose them; the doctrine was directed at France and is unofficially backed by Great Britain and the Royal Navy. The Monroe Doctrine demonstrates that the U.S. intended to become an important international power.

Manifest Destiny: First proclaimed in the 1840s, it is the idea that the United States has a God-given right to expand across the continent of North America and eventually to dominate the Western Hemisphere. It would be the argument used whenever the U.S. wanted to take over new territory from the Spanish, English, or the Indian tribes.

Indian Removal Act of 1830: After American settlers pushed into Indian lands, causing conflict, Congress approved President Jackson’s plan to move Indians to the "Great American Desert" west of Arkansas the Mississippi River. Many tribes challenged the government’s authority. In Illinois, white militia slaughtered the Sauk and Fox Indians in “Black Hawk’s War;” in Florida, the Seminole fight in Osceola’s War and likewise were all but wiped out.

Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842): President William Henry Harrison's death left Vice-President John Tyler in office. Tyler was a Whig only because he hated Jackson; he did not support a strong national government or internal improvements. Unsuccessful in domestic politics, Tyler focused on foreign policy—annexing Texas (he supported it) and resolving conflict with Britain. He instructed Secretary of State Daniel Webster to settle a dispute with England along the border with British North American (later Canada). The Webster-Ashburton Treaty granted the U.S. nearly 60% of the disputed land in Maine and Upstate New York, as well as in Minnesota where the border jutted up from the 49th Parallel to give the U.S. access to what later proved to be a region rich in iron-ore, the Mesabi Range.

"Fifty-four Forty or Fight": "Sabre-rattling" campaign slogan of Democratic Presidential candidate James K. Polk. Capitalizing on the nationalist sentiment building out of the conflict with Mexico, Polk insisted that Britain give up its claim to the Oregon Country or face American military force. The Oregon Country (Idaho, Washington, and Oregon) had become an important center for the profitable fur trade after John Jacob Astor founded Astoria in 1808. Upon winning the election, the Polk Administration negotiated a settlement with the British without war. Neither side really wanted to go to war over the region. The Oregon Treaty, formally titled Treaty with Great Britain, in Regard to Limits Westward of the Rocky Mountains, ratified in June 1846, extended the boundary between Canada and the U.S. along the 49th Parallel (established in 1818 from the Lake of the Woods to the Rockies) all the way to the Pacific (Vancouver Island remained intact and part of Canada). Congress organized the Oregon Territory in 1848

Six Flags Over Texas: In the decades following the Louisiana Purchase, many Americans moved to the eastern part of the Mexican state of Texas to grow cotton. By 1830, Mexico, alarmed at number of immigrants (about 20,000 whites and 1,000 black slaves),sent troops to block further settlement. The action failed. In 1835, the “Anglos” (or “Gringos”) numbered about 30,000 and decided that they wanted to become part of the United States (or at least independent of Mexico). Texans rose in rebellion and declared independence. The Mexican Army, under Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, annihilated the Texans and U.S. volunteers at the Alamo (a San Antonio mission) in early 1836, but was defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto. Captured by Sam Houston's troops, Santa Anna bought his freedom by granting Texan independence. After the war, Texans voted overwhelmingly in favor of annexation, to be taken over by the U.S. In 1845, Congress finally submitted an offer to Texas to join the Union. At about the same time, Mexico officially recognized Texan independence on the condition that it not annex itself to the U.S.. (The border between the two countries was still in question). With popular opinion favoring annexation, the state held a constitutional convention and then submitted it work to Congress. Congress accepted the constitution and annexed Texas on December 29th, 1845.

Mexican War: Annexing Texas joined a long list of grievances that Mexico had with the U.S., including years of American intrigue trying to take over the Mexican province of California. It also opened up the dispute over the border between the two countries. Mexicans claimed it should be the Nueces River, while Americans insisted on the Rio Grande. President pushed the issue. In 1846, Mexican forces skirmished with U.S. troops on the north side of the Rio Grande. Polk declared it an invasion of U.S. territory and demanded that Congress declare war on Mexico. The U.S. forces led by Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott won numerous battles, notably Buena Vista (1847), and force the Mexicans to sue for peace.

Mexican Cession: Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), ending the Mexican War, Mexico gave up its claims territories north of the Rio Grande in Texas and New Mexico. It also ceded territories west of the Rio Grande and above the Gila River in what would become California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

“Forty-Niners”: Nickname given to the more than 80,000 people who traveled to California in 1849 to strike it rich in the California. Gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, near Sacramento, California, in January 1848, spurring a Gold Rush. With most of the rich claims taken and most of the gold gone, few "Forty-Niners" got rich.

Gadsden Purchase: One of the hoped-for routes of a transcontinental railroad was to run from New Orleans to Los Angeles, but under the Mexican Cession the link between El Paso and Los Angeles would have to run inconveniently north above the Gila River. Southerners in Congress pushed for the U.S. to buy a section of Mexico to provide a more direct route. The U.S. paid $10 million for the roughly 500 mile stretch of land.

Ostend Manifesto: The U.S. had long wished to get control of Cuba, a Spanish colony. In the early 1850s, the sugar and tobacco island became embroiled in the debate over slavery. Southerners were becoming convinced that slavery was in peril unless they could find a place for it to expand and Cuba seemed to be the place. They convinced President Franklin Pierce to offer Spain $130 million for Cuba. When the Spanish turned it down, the U.S. responded with the Ostend Manifesto—tantamount to an ultimatum to Spain, saying that if Spain refused to sell Cuba, then the U.S. to protect its national security would have to take it. When the manifesto became public knowledge, the Pierce administration backed away from it. Similar misguided expansionism occurred when a Californian named William Walker led his troop of “immortals” in taking control of Nicaragua. Pierce formally recognized the new government. Both events represent excesses of Manifest Destiny and show how desperate some Americans were to extend slavery (or at least change the subject).