Chapter 12: Westward ExpansionName:

  1. Please explain the American Express painting by John Gast (1872) on page 316. How is this picture an ideal representation of Manifest Destiny and the westward movement?
  1. Make a list of the reasons why John Tyler was an ineffective president
  1. The Preemption Act of 1841:
  1. Why did Daniel Webster stay in Tyler’s cabinet?
  1. Why do you think Daniel Webster’s generosity in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty paid off in the long run?
  1. What happened at the same time Americans were settling the Texas plains?
  1. By 1830 there were some ______white Americans in Texas, about ______slaves, and only a few thousand Mexicans.
  1. How did American slaver holders get around owning slaves in Mexico after slavery was outlawed in 1829?
  1. Why the was the Alamo such a military debacle for the Texans?
  1. Why was adding the Texas Territory/Republic such a controversial move? Why did Jackson hesitate?
  1. Why was the TexasRepublic attractive to the British?
  1. Why did Clay (Whig) and Van Buren (Democrat) oppose annexation?
  1. Northern and Western senators refused to vote for annexation. In June of 1844, the Senate rejected the treaty, ____ to ____.
  1. In your own words, define Manifest Destiny.
  1. What New York Journalist coined the phrase manifest destiny?
  1. Make a list of the dangers and discomforts on the trail
  1. Fertility and the Frontier: What was the contrast between Europeans and Americans?
  1. What role did Indians play in territorial California?
  1. List the groups that explored/settled the Oregon Country.
  1. Why were very few of the travelers West classified as poor families?
  1. “Behind the dreams of the Far West as an American Eden lay the commercial importance of the three major west coast harbors:” Name them
  1. What did James K. Polk of Tennessee support and oppose?
  1. What cost Henry Clay the election of 1844?
  1. Debating the Past: In your opinion, did the frontier change women’s roles? Support your answer.
  1. Make a list of what Polk accomplish during his Presidency?
  1. Why was the Oregon Compromise so popular?
  1. Analyze the Political Cartoon of President Polk on page 327. In you opinion is it accurate?
  1. What kind of deal was John Slidell prepared to offer Mexico on his secret mission?
  1. Why was the Mexican War a lop-sided engagement from the very beginning?
  1. What political party were both Taylor and Winfield Scott?
  1. In what region was the War with Mexico deemed unpopular amongst Americans?
  1. What was Polk’s three part strategy?
  1. How was Winfield Scott a prime candidate for the Presidency?
  1. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo:
  1. How did William Lloyd Garrison feel about the war?
  1. The Constitution did not give the federal government any control over slavery in the states. But Congress had ______in the territories.
  1. The Wilmot Proviso:
  1. Calhoun’s resolutions could never pass the ______and Wilmot’s Proviso had no chance in the ______.
  1. Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan suggested popular sovereignty, but it was known more vulgarly as “______”
  1. What is the name of the NFL football team from San Francisco?
  1. Why was California allowed to move so quickly in its request for statehood?
  1. List the main outcomes of the Compromise of 1850 (page 336-337)
  1. Only ___ senators and ___ representatives voted for all these bills.