• Mission and fort that was the site of a seige & battle in the Texas Revolution which resulted in the massacre of it's defenders.
• This event helped galvanize the Texas rebels and eventually led to their victory at the Battle of San Jacinto and independence from Mexico.

• Political opportunist and general who served as president of Mexico 11 different times.
• Commanded the Mexican army during the Texas Revolution in the 1830s and the Mexican War in the 1840s.

• Proposal by Henry Clay to settle debate over slavery in territory gained by Mexican War.
• Shepherded through Congress by Stephen Douglas
• Included: 1) adding California as a free state, 2) no more slavery in DC, 3) more strict Fugitive Slave Law, 4) postponed slavery decisions in New Mexico and Utah, and 5) settlement of the Texas-New Mexico boundary & debt issues

• Northern democratic president with southern ideals
• Signed Kansas Nebraska Act
• Sought sectional harmony

• Formed from Liberty Party in 1848
• "Free soil, free speech, free labor, and free men," opposed spread of slavery into territories
• Supported homesteads, cheap postage, and internal improvements
• Ran van Buren and Hale for president
• Later absorbed by Republican party.

• Acquisition of land south of the Gila river for $10 mill.
• Land was needed for a possible transcontinental railroad, but was never used.

• Democratic pres.
• "Young hickory" because of his close political & personal ties to Jackson.
• Aggressive foreign policy that led to Mexican War, settlement of the Oregon issue, and acquisition of the Mexican cession

• Influential editor of the Democratic Review who coin phrase "manifest destiny" in 1845.

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

• Stephen Douglas's bill to open western territories, promote trans. railroad, and boost his presidential ambitions.
• It divided the Nebraska territory into 2 territories and used popular sovereingty to decide slavery in the region.
• Douglas's Goals: populate Kansas in order to make more attractive a proposed route for railroad to Chicago.

• 3rd party of 1840s
• Opposed immigrants (esp. Catholics); supported temperance, waiting period for citizenship, and literacy tests.
• Officially American Party, but members refused to disclose any info. about it.

• Democratic senator, proposed popular sovereingty to settle slavery question in territories
• Lost presidential election to Taylor, but still advocated his ideas.

• Justified expansion in 1840s
• Weaving together rhetoric of economic necessity, racial superiority, and national security, the concept implied that expansion was inevitable.

• California and Southwest
• Turned over to US after Mexican War

• Meeting of reps. from 9 souther states in 1850
• Monitor negotiations of Compromise of 1850
• Called for extension of Missiouri Compromise line and more severe Fugitive Slave Laws
• Accepted compromise, but laid groundwork for a southern confederacy

• Statement by American envoys saying that Spain must sell US Cuba or they would be justified in seizing it
• Repudiated by government, but added to belief that there was a "slave power" in DC

• By Lewis Cass, Douglas, & nothern Democrats
• Residents of a territory would vote on slavery
• idea of empowering voters to decide important questions was not new to the 1840s and 50s or to the slavery issue

• Created in 1854, response to Kansas-Nebraska Act
• Whig + Free Soil + Know-Nothing + democrats
• Not abolitionists, but sought to block spread of slavery in territories
• Favored tariffs, homesteads, and railroads

• Leader of Texas revolutionaries
• First pres of Texas
• Political and personal ally of Jackson

• Belief that a slave-holding oligarchy existed to maintain slavery in the South whose intentions were to spread this "peculiar institution" throughout the country
• belief held that a southern cabal championed a closed, aristocratic way of life that attacked northern capitalism and liberty

• Leader of immigration to texas in 1820s
• negotiated land grants with Mexico
• tried to moderate Texas rebelliousness
• Secretary of state of Texas

• Democratic senator in 50s
• "Little giant"- small size, big political power
• steered Compromise of 1850 and Kansas-Nebraska Act through Congress
• ran against Lincoln

• Agreement that ended Mexican War
• Under its terms, Mexico gave up Texas north of the Rio Grande, California, and Utah
• US paid Mexico $15 mill, but the land cession was 1/2 of Mexico's territory

• Measure by Congress in 1846 to prohibit slavery in all territory gained form Mexico
• Southern senators blocked its passage
• Became congressional rallying platform for antislavery forces in 40s and 50s

• Military figure- War of 1812 to Civil War
• Distinguished self in Mexican War, lost presidential election, and commanded Union armies in beginning of Civil War

• Military hero of Mexican War
• Last president Whig
• Sudden death in July 1850 allowed Compromise of 1850 to be pass through to Congress