Alamo fortified Franciscan mission at San Antonio; rebellious Texas colonists were besieged and annihilated there by Santa Anna’s forces in 1836

annexation incorporation of a territory into an existing political unit such as a neighboring country

Antonio López de Santa Anna Mexican general who was president of Mexico when he led an attack on the Alamo in 1836; he again led Mexico during its war with the US (1846-1848)






Battle of Buena Vista 1847 battle during which Taylor’s troops forced Santa Anna’s forces to withdraw into the interior of Mexico

Brigham Young Mormon leader who took over in 1844 after Joseph Smith’s death and guided the Mormons from Illinois to Utah, where they established a permanent home for the church






Californios Spanish colonists in California in the 18th and 19th centuries






empresario In the Spanish colonies, a person who organized and led a group of settlers in exchange for land grants and the right to assess fees

extractive industry an industry, such as fur trapping, logging, or mining, that removes natural resources from the environment






Far West in 19th century North America, the lands west of the Mississippi River

filibuster to use obstructionist tactics, especially prolonged speechmaking, in order to delay legislative action

First Organic Laws constitution adopted by American settlers in the Oregon Country on 5 July 1843, establishing a government independent from Great Britain and requesting annexation by the US

forty-niners prospectors who streamed into California in 1849, after the discovery of gold in 1848

Frederick Douglass abolitionist and journalist who escaped from slavery in 1838 and became an influential lecturer in the North and abroad

Free-Soil Party political party that exposed the extension of slavery into any of the territories newly acquired from Mexico

frontier line outer limit of agricultural settlement bordering on areas still under Indian control or unoccupied






gradualism belief that slavery in the US should be abolished gradually, by methods such as placing territorial limits on slavery or settling free blacks in Africa

Great Basin desert region of the western US including most of Nevada and parts of Utah, California, Idaho, Wyoming, and Oregon

Great Salt Lake shallow, salty lake in the Great Basin near which the Mormons established a permanent settlement in 1847






James K. Polk Tennessee congressman who was a leader of the Democratic Party and the dark-horse winner of the 1844 presidential campaign

John C. Frémont explorer, soldier, and politician who explored and mapped much of the American West and Northwest

John Sutter Swiss immigrant who founded a colony in California; the discovery of gold on his property in 1848 attracted hordes of miners who seized his land, leaving him financially ruined

joint resolution formal statement adopted by both houses of Congress and subject to approval by the president; if approved, it has the force of law

Junípero Serra Spanish missionary who went to California in 1769; he and his successors established near the California coast a chain of missions that depended on Indian labor






Liberty Party 1st antislavery political party; it was formed in Albany, New York, in 1840






manifest destiny term first used in the 1840s to describe the right and duty of the US to expand westward






oligarchy small group of people or families who hold power

Oregon Country region to the north of Spanish California extending from the crest of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast

Oregon Question the question of the national ownership of the Pacific Northwest; the US and England renegotiated the boundary in 1846, establishing it at 49 ° north latitude

Oregon Trail overland route from St. Louis to the Pacific Northwest followed by thousands of settlers in the 1840s






popular sovereignty doctrine that the people of a territory had the right to determine whether slavery would exist within their territory

pre-emption bill temporary law that gave squatters the right to buy land they had settled on before it was offered for sale at public auction

probate court court that establishes the validity of wills and administers the estates of people who have died

proviso clause making a qualification, condition, or restriction in a document






Rio Bravo Spanish and then Mexican name for the river that now forms the border between Texas and Mexico; the Rio Grande






Sam Houston American general and politician who fought in the struggle for Texas’s independence from Mexico and became president of the Republic of Texas

Sojourner Truth abolitionist and feminist who was freed from slavery in 1827 and became a leading preacher against slavery and for the rights of women

Stephen F. Austin American colonizer in Texas and leading voice in the Texas Revolution






tallow hard fat obtained from the bodies of cattle and other animals and used to make candles and soap

Tejanos Mexican settlers in Texas in the 19th century

Texas Revolution revolt by American colonists in Texas against Mexican rule; it began in 1835 and ended with the establishment of the Republic of Texas in 1836

Texians non-Hispanic white settlers in Texas in the 19th century

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848 treaty in which Mexico gave up Texas above the Rio Grande and ceded New Mexico and California to the US in return for $15 million

Treaty of Velasco Santa Anna signed this 1836 treaty after his capture at the San Jacinto River; it recognized the Republic of Texas but was later rejected by the Mexican Congress






Webster-Ashburton Treaty 1842 treaty that established the present border between Canada and northeastern Maine

Wilmot Proviso amendment to an 1846 appropriations bill proposing that any territory acquired from Mexico be closed to slavery; it was defeated in the Senate

Winfield Scott Virginia soldier and statesman who led troops in the War of 1812 and the War with Mexico; he was still serving as a general at the start of the Civil War