-
Period: to
Us. Oregon Claim
Discovery of Colombia River by Captain Robert Gray(1792), Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Coast(1805), fur trading post and fort in Astoria, Oregon established by John Jacob Astor(1811) -
Period: to
Conflicts Over Texas, Maine, and Oregon
The United States were interested into pushing its borders into Texas and westward into Oregon Territory because of American pioneers in these lands. -
Period: to
Fur Traders' Frontier
Mountain men met with Native Americans in the Rockies yearly to trade furs. James Beckwourth, Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, and Jedediah Smith provided info on trails and conditions. -
Texas
Stephen Austin completed Moses Austin, his father, task of bringing 300 families(white farmers and black slaves) into Texas on a land grant causing Americans to outnumber Mexicans in Texas. -
Friction between Americans and Mexicans
Mexico outlawed slavery and required all immigrants to convert to Roman Catholicism. They closed Texas to additional American immigrants, but Americans from the southern states ignored and entered Texas anyway. -
Period: to
Farming Frontier
Congress' Preemption Acts gacve people right to settle and purchase land when for sell by government. Communities developed favoring Eastern communities. -
Period: to
Foreign Commere
Shipping firms encourage regular departure schedule. Whaling boom New England merchants. Improvements of ship designs shorten trips. Steamships are bigger, cheap to maintain. Commodore Matthew C. Perry convinces Japan to open two Japanese ports to U.S. -
Revolt and Independence
Gneral Atonio Lopez de Santa Anna declared himself dictator of Mexico. He declared attacked the Alamo in San Antonio, then was captured by Sam Houston and forced to sign a treaty making Texas independent. -
Period: to
Boundary Dispute in Maine
A conflict between lumbermen on the Maine-Canadian border erupted into the Aroostock War, or "battle of the maps".In 1842, the Webster-Ashburton Treay was signed splitting the border between Maine and British Canada and set up Minnesota's boundary. -
Oregon Fever
5,000 Americans travel 2,000 miles over the Oregon Trail to settle in the area south of the Colombia River, or the Willamette Valley. -
Period: to
President
John Taylor, was a southern Whig president -
Industrial Technology
Factories are now producing shoes, ready-to-wear clothes, and firearms, and more. Samueal F. B. Morse successfully sent a telegraph. -
The Election of 1844
The Democratic nominations were Martin Van Buren,opposed annexation. Joh C. Calhoun, for annexation. James K. Polk, favored annexation. Henry Clay was nominated for the Whig party. James K. Polk won a close election. -
Claim to Oregon
The United States claim Oregon because Spain gave them claim to Oregon in the Adams-Onis Treaty. Britain based its claim to Oregon on the Hudson Fur Company. -
Annexation Denied
Houston applied for the Republic of Texas to be annexed, butpresidents Jackson and Van Buren rejected the request because of the slave states. John wanted Texas annexed because of British influence, but Senate rejected it. -
War with Mexico
Polk had John Slidell as government envoy in Mexico City. He wanted Slidell to persuade Mexico to sell California and New Mexico, and settle dispute concerning the mexico-Texas border. Both missions failed. -
Immediate Causes of War
A mexican army captured an American army patrol and killed 11 people. Northern Whigs(including Abraham Lincoln) opposed war, but were over ruled by the majority in the houses that were for war. -
Annexing Texas and Dividing Orgeon
The treaty dividing Oregon was submitted to the Senate for ratification. The United States agreed to grant Vancouver to Britain for rights to navigate the Colombia River. -
Military Campaigns
General Stephen Kearney captured Santa Fe and southern California. John C. Fremont captured northern California and claimed it ndependent. -
Wilmot Proviso
In the first year of the war, David Wilmot, a Pennsylvania Congressman,proposed a bill to forbid slavery in any territories aquired from Mexico. It was passed by the House, but defeated by the Senate. -
Military Campaigns 2
Zachary Taylor took Texas and won a victory at Buena Vista. -
Military Campaigns 3
General Winfield Scott invaded central Mexico, and took Vera Cruz and Mexico City. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo- Mexican Cession
Mexico recognize the Rio Grande as southern border of Texs.
United States controls California and New Mexico for $15 million- The Mexican Cession. -
Period: to
Mining frontier
Gold discovered in California(1848), brought tens of thousands of men to the western mountains starting short-live towns. -
Railroads
The government granted 2.6 million acres of land to build the Illinois Central Railroad from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico. -
Clayton- Bulwer Treaty
The treaty announced neither Great Britain or the United States could make a canal route in Central America. -
Ostend Manifesto
Polk offered to buy Cuba, but Spain refused, so they tried to take it by force, but were killed by Spanish firing squads.President Pierce sent three diplomats to Ostend, Belgium to secretly buy Cuba, but the scheme was dropped when information was leaked out. -
Gadsen Purchase
The United States bought the land of present-day New Mexico and Arizona for $10 million. -
Period: to
Walker Expedition
William Walker tried to take Baja California from Mexico in 1853. Walker took over Nicaragua in 1855.He tried to develop a proslaver Central American empire, but it failed and he was executed by Hondurian authorities. -
Panic of 1857
There was a drop in prices in the west, and unemployment in the north. South wasn't affeced much, so cotton prices stayed high, and felt the North wasn't needed for their economy. -
Overland Trails
Pioneers took journeys west going through Indian attacks, disease, and depression from harsh conditions to attempt to reach fertile land in California and Oregon.