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Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was the founder of the Mormons. When he was fourteen, Smith was visited in the woods by God and Jesus, which they told him not to join a church, and to wait for further instructions. In his early twenties, Smith was visited by Moroni, an angel. Moroni told Smith about the Golden Plates, which contained the secret to his new religion, and the Book of Mormon. The picture is of Joseph Smith in the woods, with God and Jesus. -
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. Jackson proposed to Congress that he wanted to move the Native Americans out west, so the white people within the East Coast would not have to worry about the Natives attacking them. Jackson also claimed that it would strengthen the white settlements to open the whole territory between Tennessee and Louisiana, and the Indian Removal would relieve many states of Indian people. The picture is Andrew Jackson, on the twenty dollar bill. -
The Alamo
The Alamo was a mission area converted to a military base in Texas, in 1821. This base was occupied by Mexican troops, but pushed out by the Texas Militia. The Alamo was important to the Texans because it had a military garrison and was a center of commerce. The Mexican troops pushed back to the Alamo and took it, taking the Texans by surprise because they thought the Mexicans could not make it through the winter. The picture is of the Alamo. -
The Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears is the route the United States military had the Native Americans travel until they got to Oklahoma, where they were being moved to. At the start of the removal of the Native Americans, they were able to utilize wagons, oxen and horses. As the Natives were being removed, the wagons were left behind, causing many to have to walk the entire route which would be about one thousand miles. The picture is a painting of what the Trail of Tears looked like while the Indians were being -
The Mormons
The Mormons are people who followed Joseph Smith and his new found religion. The Mormons were very hated by the Christians in their area, because of the differences between the two beliefs. Because of this, a war started, and the Mormons were kicked out of Missouri and Ohio, but they were allowed into Illinois. They moved to Nauvoo, where they kept state and religion together, and had a military larger than the Illinois Militia. The picture is of the Temple in Nauvoo. -
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was a document created by John O'Sullivan. Sullivan talks about the expansion to the West and how well it would help the U.S. as a whole, as well as why the United States is a great nation already. The U.S. is such a great nation because of the "end to the tyranny of kings" the new government has brought to them. Also moving westward would give the citizens peace and goodwill to those who are willing to move. Pictured above is John O'Sullivan. -
The Donner Party
The Donner Party was George Donner and eighty-six other pioneers, moving to the West to start a new life. The pioneers had 27 wagons, loaded with fancy foods and liquor, and had built in stoves and beds. The party decided to try and take a shortcut that would save them four-hundred miles. On the shortcut, they were blocked in by the massive amounts of snow, and were blocked in. Food supply ran short, and the Pioneers resulted to cannibalism to survive, until two rescue parties saved them. The pi -
The Mexican War
The Mexican War was a war that happened in between Mexico and The United States, and it was the first war America fought on foreign land. It started because Texas left Mexico and joined the United States, but Mexico wanted to keep Texas. After two years of fighting, a peace treaty with Mexico was signed, they officially sold Texas and California to the United States for $15 million. The picture is of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna the general of the Mexican Army during the war. -
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was the second President of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, after the death of Joseph Smith in June of 1884. Young led the Mormons out to the Great Salt Lake Basin in Utah. Young had the Mormons share water and wood when they got to their destination.Young married fifty-five women and had fifty-seven children. Because of his importance to the Mormons, they named a university in Utah after Young. The picture is of Brigham Young. -
The Gold Rush
The Gold Rush started when James Wilson Marshall found gold in a river in California, the discovery of gold caused thousands of people to flock to the West leaving everything they had for this small possibility of becoming rich, and these pioneers would shape the history of California. About one hundred thousand people moved out by the year 1849. The West did not have any laws, and banditry and other crimes were very common. Pictured above is a nugget of gold.
