Ch 8: Manifest Destiny & American Expansion: Help and Review
About This Chapter
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- Have fallen behind in understanding the Mexican-American War or the Texas annexation problem.
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- Start at the beginning, or identify the topics that you need help with.
- Watch and learn from fun videos, reviewing as needed.
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Students will review:
In this chapter, you'll learn the answers to questions including:
- What was the relationship between westward migration and Manifest Destiny?
- Why did it take so long to annex Texas into the United States?
- What were some of President Polk's key accomplishments?
- How did the Mexican-American War start?
- How did the California gold rush affect the presidency of Zachary Taylor?
- What were the end results of President Fillmore's Compromise of 1850?
- Why did Americans dislike President Pierce's economic and political policies?
1. The Oregon Trail: Westward Migration to the Pacific Ocean
The desire to expand America lead to a westward migration to the Pacific Ocean and the annexation of the Oregon Trail. Learn about the history of American westward expansion, executive expansionists, reasons for expansion, and how expansion helped to achieve manifest destiny.
2. Manifest Destiny's Texas Annexation Problem
Learn how the early Amerian idealogy of manifest destiny conflicted with the annexation of Texas into the United States of America. Take a closer look at the history of the Republic of Texas, how the problems with annexing Texas and slavery were related, and how Texas finally became a state in 1845.
3. President John Tyler: American Expansion and Sectional Concerns
John Tyler's presidency was rife with opposition from members of the United States Congress, including their making him the first president to be impeached. Learn more about Tyler's accomplishments in pushing for American expansion, and how many southerners left the Whig Party to join the Democrats.
4. President James K. Polk's Accomplishments in the Lower 48 States
President James Polk may be obscure, but he wasn't insignificant. Learn about his controversial territorial acquisitions that define most of what Americans today call the 'Lower 48' states.
5. The Mexican-American War, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo & the Wilmot Proviso
The Mexican-American War was controversial and complex. Explore the roots of the war and learn about the Polk's War, the political war, the media war, the war on the battlefields, and the Treaty of Guadalupe.
6. Election of 1848 and the California Gold Rush
Study the election of 1848 and how it was connected to the California Gold Rush. Learn about the election of General Zachary Taylor in 1848, the discovery of gold in California, the ensuring gold rush of 1849, and California's application for statehood.
7. President Fillmore and the Compromise of 1850
Millard Fillmore took office following President Taylor's death in 1848, during a time of conflict in Congress regarding slavery in territories newly acquired via the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, a.k.a. 'Mexican cession.' Discover Fillmore's support of the Compromise of 1850, which included: California becoming a free state; slavery decisions in Utah and New Mexico; Texas being paid to move its border; abolishment of the Washington, D.C. slave trade, and the new Fugitive Slave Act.
8. President Franklin Pierce's Politics and Economics
President Franklin Pierce was an unpopular president due to his aggressive positions on slavery and expansion. Learn about the election of 1852, President Franklin Pierce's controversial political and economic agenda, and how his fervent perspective on slavery divided the nation.
9. Who Was Crazy Horse? - History & Explanation
Many Indian Chiefs were great warriors that earned the respect of their people and of white Europeans. The Oglala Sioux Tribe had a leader whose name would become infamous. Learn here about Chief Crazy Horse.
10. The Annexation of Puerto Rico in 1898
As a strategic move during the Spanish-American War, American forces invaded the island of Puerto Rico. When the war ended, The Treaty of Paris recognized Puerto Rico as an American territory.
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Other Chapters
Other chapters within the Middle School US History: Help and Review course
- First Contacts in the Americas: Help and Review
- Settling North America & the Colonies: Help and Review
- The Revolutionary War: Help and Review
- The Making of a Nation after the American Revolution: Help and Review
- Virginia Dynasty: Help and Review
- The Jacksonian Democracy: Help and Review
- Everyday Life in Antebellum America: Help and Review
- Buildup to the American Civil War: Help and Review
- The American Civil War: Help and Review
- After the Civil War - Reconstruction: Help and Review
- American Industrialization of the Late 19th Century: Help and Review
- The Progressive Era of the Early 20th Century: Help and Review
- American Imperialism & World War l: Help and Review
- 1920s America: Help and Review
- America and the Great Depression: Help and Review
- America and the Second World War: Help and Review
- Post-War and the Cold War: Help and Review
- Civil Rights Movements in America: Help and Review
- America in the 1970s: Help and Review
- America in the 1980s: Help and Review
- America from 1992 to the Present: Help and Review