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Indian Removal
Andrew Jackson became president of the U.S and decided that the Native Americans had to be removed to open more land up to settlers. The Indian Removal was passed, which established to give land grants to those tribes that were willing to give up their homelands. Jackson and his followers were free to persuade, bribe, and threaten tribes into signing removal treaties and leaving the Southeast with the Act in place. -
Indian Removal Act
Passed by Congress on May 28, 1830, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern Indian tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their ancestral homelands. -
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Expanding Period
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2nd Seminole War
Native Americans killed and driven out of most of Northern Florida (1835-1842) -
Texas enters the Union
After the Mexican government failed at attempting to regulate American communities(which lead to rebellion), Texas declared its independence from Mexico in March 1836. The new nation elected Sam Houston as their President, who then endorsed Texas entering the U.S as a slave state. The proposition was delayed by Congress for over a decade until Congress finally agreed to annex Texas into the Union. This course of action stirred even further the conflict of slavery and between Mexico and the U.S. -
Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso was proposed by David Wilmot (pictured to the left) who suggested that any territory gained from Mexico should be prohibited from establishing slavery. Although this Amendment was heavely backed up by Norhtern politicians, the Southern politicians declared it to be unconstitutional and therofore, was never passed. -
Donnar Pary
A group of American pioneers led by George Donner and James F. Reed who set out for California in a wagon train in May,1846. Delayed by a series of mishaps and mistakes, they spent the winter of 1846-47 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada. Some pioneers resorted to cannibalism to survive. -
Oregon Treaty
Spain, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States originally claimed the Oregon Territory. An increase in immigration on the Oregon Trail in 1843 made border disputes in this territory and issue in Congress. President Polk was eager to solve this boundary issue and proposed a settlement of the 49 degree line to Great Britain. The senate ratified the treaty with a 41-14 vote on June 18th, 1846. -
Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party was a political party founded to help prevent the spread of slavery and slave owners into the western territories. Some members wanted to ban free blacks from the territories. The Party believed in many of Jefferson's ideals,Their slogan was, "Free Soil! Free Speech! Free Men!" -
Compromise of 1850
California wished to enter the union as a free state.This would tip the balance of slave and free states. Henry Clay proposed a compromise with four provisions:
1. Admit California into the Union as a free state.
2. Divide the rest of the Mexican Cession into the territories of Utah and New Mexico, and let the settlers vote on the territory's slave or free status
3. Federal gov't would assume TX's public debt & give isputed land between TX & NM to NM
4. Fugive Slave Act -
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase was an agreement between the U.S and Mexico in which the U.S agreed to pay Mexico $10 million for 29,670 square mile portion of Mexico that later became part of Arizona and New Mexico territories. -
Arizona enters the Union
Arizona was home to numerous Native American Tribes. In the Mexican–American War (1847), the US occupied Mexico City and pursued its claim to much of northern Mexico, including what later became Arizona.
