| A | B |
|---|
| Manifest Destiny | 19th Centrury doctrine that westward expansion of the United States was not only inevitable but a god given right. |
| Expansionists | Person who favored expanding the territory or influence of a country. |
| Oregon Trail | Trail from Independence Missouri to Oregon that was used by pioneers in the mid-1800s. |
| Pre-Emption Act | Federal law that allowed settlers to purchase 160 acers of land in the west. |
| Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo | 1848 Treaty ending the Mexican American War. |
| Mexican Cession | the region of the modern day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo |
| Gadsen Purchase | 1853 purchse of land (present day Arizona and New Mexico) from Mexico. |
| Alamo | fortified former mission in San Antonio that was the site of the 1836 defeat and slaughter of Texans and Mexicans. |
| Lone Star Republic | nation formed in 1853 by Texans who declared independence from Mexico. |
| California Gold Rush | Mass migration to California after the discovery of gold in 1848. |
| Forty-Niners | miners who went to California after the discovery of gold in 1848. |
| Brigham Young | Mormon leader that led the Mormons across the Great Plains into Utah. |
| Zachary Taylor | Hero of the Mexican War that later became President of the United States. |
