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Westward Expansion
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Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was legislation passed by President Andrew Jackson that gave him the power to make treaties with native people located east of the Mississippi River. Under these conditions, native American tribes were forced out of their ancestral land, and in exchange, they got land west of the river. The existing land they owned was seen to be a good spot for white settlement and cotton farming. This caused the displacement of thousands of natives and the well known "Trail of Tears". -
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was a cause of the Indian Removal act. The U.S. government made Native American families leave their homes in the East and move to new land far away, in what is now Oklahoma. The journey was very long and hard. Many Native Americans walked for months, through bad weather and without enough food or water. Many got sick and some died. This journey is called the Trail of Tears because it caused so much sadness and pain. -
Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. It was a small group of around 180-250 Texan defenders, including famous people like Bowie and Davy Crocket, who held the Alamo mission in San Antonio against a much larger Mexican force led by Antonio López de Santa Anna. After 13 days of intense fighting, the Mexican army got throgh the Alamo, killing near all the defenders even and though it was loss for the Texans the rallying cry "Remember the Alamo!" helped inspire them. -
Oregon Trail
Although the Oregon Trail started earlier, its peak travel was from 1843 to about 1860. It was a route over 2000 miles used by pioneers to migrate west for the economy, good soil, and overall better opportunity. Driven by the movement "Manifest Destiny," the trail was no easy feat, Challenged with dangerous weather, diseases, and terrain, the pioneers were too determined to complete their mission to seek a better life. -
Annexation of Texas
The annexation of Texas marked the 28th state of the United States. Many people in Texas wanted to join the U.S. for protection and the economy, but as Texas was a slave state, the north didn't like this idea because it would further expand slavery. Eventually, when James Polk, a pro-annexation democrat, got elected, he passed a joint resolution to annex Texas, offering statehood, and they accepted. It was also a big cause of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) as Mexico saw it as aggression. -
Mexican - American War
The points of the Mexican and American war was to settle disputes between the territory owned. When Texas annexed the Mexicans saw it as an act of aggression and that caused them to start a skirmish between Mexican and American Troops and the war quickly gained traction. America started to gain victories, and eventually captured Mexico City. All of the violence eventually ended with the Treaty of Gaudalupe where Mexico gave up over 500,000 square miles to the U.S. -
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush started when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in northern California. News spread quickly, and by 1849, thousands of people called "49ers" moved to California from the U.S. and farther hoping to make bread. The rush led to rapid population growth, the establishment of new towns, and California made as a state in 1850. While many people failed to find gold, the Gold Rush had big economic impacts, transforming California into a major economic and cultural center. -
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a bunch of laws that were passed to make the tension between free and slave states less tense. it included California becoming a free state, the slave trade being abolished in Washington DC, and texas giving up land in return for debt relief from government, and more things that involved the easyness of the things between them. It was supposed to be aimed at the balancing of the states but instead deepened the slave divisions. -
Gadsden Purchase
Expensive but vital to westward expansion, the Gadsen Purchase was a land purchase attached to what is now the border of Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico. It cost 10 million dollars and was seen to be necessary for the Southern Trancontinental Railroad -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act was a law passed in 1862 that gave free land to people who wanted to live and farm in the western United States. If someone was 21 or older and wanted to be a U.S. citizen, they could get 160 acres. To keep the land, they had to build a house and farm for five years. Lots of people moved from the East to places like Kansas and Nebraska to get land. This law helped people start new lives, whie took land from Native American tribes.