Market Revolution
the major change in the US economy produced by people's beginning to buy and sell goods rather than make them for themselves
Capitalism
economy where private individuals and corporations control the means of production and use them to earn profits
Limited Liability Law
legislation that allows a form of business ownership in which the owners are liable only up to the amount of their individual investments
General Incorporation Law
stated that businesspeople could create a corporation if they complied with the terms of the law. Allows corporations to be formed without a charter from the legislature
Entrepreneur
a person who organizes, operates and assumes the risk for a business venture
Samuel Morse
scientist who invented the electromagnetic telegraph. Invention allowed messages all over the country to be transmitted in seconds.
Telegraph
a device for the electrical transmission of coded messages over copper wires
Manifest Destiny
belief that the US was destined to expand westward to the Pacific Ocean and into Mexican territory. Americans believed that they were spreading their "empire of liberty" with God's blessing
Rugged Individualism
the social outlook that promotes independence and self-reliance and key American ideals. This concept was exemplified by frontier settlers and exploited by politicians
Economic Imperialsim
economic analysis of seemingly non-economic aspects of life, such as crime, law, the family, prejudice, tastes, irrational behavior, politics, sociology, culture, religion, war, science, and research.
Santa Fe Trail
900 mile trail opened by American merchants for trading purposes following Mexico's liberalization of the formerly restrictive trading policies of Spain
Black Hawk War
Chief Black Hawk of the Sauk tribe attempted to fight Americans for control of Western Illinois and Eastern Iowa. US military ended threat with force at the Bad Axe Massacre, clearing much of the Midwest for American settlement.
Mormons
members of religious community who preached that Americans must restore the covenant with God by following the Book of Mormon) considered a continuation of the Bible). This group played a major part in settling the Utah.
Joseph Smith
established Church of Latter Day Saints after transcribing the text of the Book of Mormon. Converted many people to Mormonism before he died a martyr at the hands of an anti-Mormon mob
Brigham Young
Successor of Joseph Smith
Oregon Trail
is a 2,200-mile east-west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon.
John Tyler
ascended to the Presidency upon the death of William Henry Harrison. Tyler's insistence of having his own Presidency rather than be a place holder solidified the process of Presidential succession
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
Treaty between US and Britain where America solidified its Northeast border with Canada by gaining additional territory in Maine.
Empresario
wealthy American land lords, sold cheap land (known as land grants) to attract other US settlers to move to Mexico. These land lords did not enforce Mexican laws in full, treating the territory more like an extension of America
Stephen F. Austin
Empresario responsible for attracting 300 US families to Texas. After brief imprisonment for protesting harsh enforcement of Mexican law he became a political leader in the Texas Revolution
Santa Anna
Mexican President and Commanding General, his authoritarian military dictatorship caused Texas to desire independence
Anahuac Disturbances
Mexico's increasingly authoritarian rule led to a series of protests by Texans, with subsequent outbreaks of violence precipitating the Texas Revolution.
Alamo
battle at a fort in San Antonio, Texas. 187 Texas hold off 1,500 Mexicans for several days, before being overrun and killed. Their sacrifice served as a rallying cry for all Texans to embrace independence.
Runaway Scrape
form of guerrilla warfare used by the Texans. A tactic of continuous engagement and then retreat, stretching out the Mexican forces as they sought to maintain territory and continue to pursue the Texans. Eventually stretches the Mexicans so thin that they are vulnerable to decisive defeats
Sam Houston
Texan General who led his forces to victory at the Battle of Jacinto, capturing Santa Anna and securing independence. He was later elected the 1st and only president of the Republic of Texas
Battle of Jacinto
was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texian Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican army in a fight that lasted just 18 minutes.
Treaty of Velasco
ends the Texas Revolution, Mexico recognizes Texas as an independent nation.
Republic of Texas
Texas established itself as an independent republic after receiving independence from Mexico
Annexation
formal act of acquiring a territory by conquest or occupation.
Slavocracy
Term the North used to describe the Slaveholding South and its political motivated "schemes" to gain more slave states and therefore more pro-slavery congressional representation
James K. Polk
Democratic winner of 1844 Presidential election. Known as the Manifest Destiny President because of his strong push for annexation of Oregon Territory, and his engagement in the Mexican War
Spot Resolution
Representative Abraham Lincoln questioned the truthfulness of Polk's declaration of war, put forth inquiry to clarify where fighting occurred
Republic of California
California established itself as an independent republic following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
1848 treaty ending the US war with Mexico, where Mexico ceded all territory from Texas to California that was north of the Rio Grande to the US
Gadsden Purchase
the 1853 treaty where the US bought from Mexico parts of what is now southern Arizona and southern New Mexico. Southerners wanted this land in order to build a southern transcontinental railroad
Gold Rush
movement of many people to the region of California where old had been discovered. This massive infusion of population allowed California to quickly apply for statehood thereafter
Forty-Niners
people who migrated to California in search of gold in 1849