| A | B |
|---|
| James Polk | 11th U.S. president who started the Mexican War |
| Zachary Taylor | U.S. commanding general |
| Rio Grande | border between Texas and Mexico |
| boundary dispute | disagreement over when one country ends and another begins |
| Nueces River | Mexico considered this to be the border between Texas and Mexico |
| California | large area on the Pacific coast that belonged to Mexico |
| Califonios | Spanish-speaking people who lived in California |
| New Mexico | territory located between California and the US frontier |
| Henry David Thoreau | New England writer and philosopher who went to jail to protest the Mexican War |
| Ralph Waldo Emerson | American essayist, philosopher and poet and friend of Henry David Thoreau |
| Battle of Buena Vista | U.S. troops used artillery to overwhelmed a larger Mexican force in one of the decisive victories of the Mexican War |
| Bear Flag Revolt | American revolt against Mexican rule in California |
