Manifest Destiny Geography Bee. Q: What did Americans call their desire to spread out & claim...

Manifest Destiny

Geography Bee

Q: What did Americans call their desire to spread out & claim land

from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean?

A: Manifest Destiny

Q: What New York newspaperman coined the term

“Manifest Destiny”?

A: John O’Sullivan

Q: In one single person’s lifetime, the United States had grown how

many times its original size?

A: three times its original size

Q: After exhausting the fur supply, mountain men found work as

A: guides

Q: What U.S. president agreed to annex Texas?

A: Polk

Q: The Mexican ranchos had which group of people working the land in exchange for food &

shelter.

A: Native Americans

Q: Jim Bridger and Kit Carson lived in the West and worked as

A: Guides

Q: Which territory had a diverse population of Seminole Indians,

Spanish colonists, & runaway slaves?

A: Florida

Q: What made slave owners in Georgia angry about the Florida

territory?

A: runaway slaves escaped there

Q: What made plantation owners in Georgia angry about the Florida

territory?

A: Seminole Indians crossed into Georgia to attack their farms

Q: What was America’s biggest complaint about how Spain

governed Florida?

A: Spain was so far away that their governing was weak

Q: What military hero invaded Florida in 1818 to chase back the

Seminoles?

A: Andrew Jackson

(Andrew Jackson also overthrew the Spanish government & took

over the territory.)

Q: What message did Secretary of State John Quincy Adams send to

Spain regarding Florida?

A: “Govern or Get Out”

Q: What crop was the land in Texas best suited for?

A: cotton

Q: What did all settlers of Austin’s Texas have to agree to become?

A: Mexican citizens & Catholics

Q: What term describes Texans of Mexican descent?

A: Tejanos

Q: What did the country of Mexico outlaw in 1829 that bothered a lot of Americans

moving into Texas?

A: slavery

Q: Who was the hotheaded young lawyer that called for a revolution against the Mexican government?

A: William Travis

Q: Who was the angry Mexican dictator/president/military leader that met with Stephen Austin to

discuss the conflicts?

A: General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Q: What was the name of the mission that Mexicans took control over in San Antonio?

A: the Alamo

Q: Who was the famous frontiersman & former

congressman from Tennessee?

A: Davy Crockett

Q: Who was the well-known Texas “freedom fighter” for whom a

knife is named?

A: James Bowie

Q: By what ratio were Texans outnumbered at the Battle of the

Alamo?

A: ten to one

Q: What did Santa Anna order his troops to do to all of the survivors

of the Battle of the Alamo?

A: execute them

Q: Who was the commander of the Texas revolutionary army?

A: Sam Houston

Q: At what river did Santa Anna catch up with Sam Houston?

A: San Jacinto River

Q: What did Houston shout repeatedly during the Battle of

San Jacinto to help keep his troops focused?

A: “Remember the Alamo!”

Q: When Texans captured Santa Anna, what did they force him to

sign?

A: a treaty giving Texas their independence

Q: What was the nickname for the state of Texas?

A: the Lone Star Republic

Q: What term means to add a territory to a country?

A: annex

Q: Under which President did Texas officially become one of the

United States?

A: President James K. Polk

Q: (Delaware was the 1st state.) Which did Texas become?

A: the 28th state

Q: What did settlers call the enormous, tree-covered

wilderness stretching from the Rockies to the Pacific to Alaska?

A: Oregon Country

Q: Oregon was claimed by four nations in 1819, including Russia and Spain. What were the other

two countries?

A: the U.S. & Britain

Q: Whose expedition led to the United States’ interest in the

Oregon Country?

A: Lewis & Clark

Q: Who was the young fur trapper that discovered a passage through the Rockies that was much more

accessible for travelers?

A: Jedediah Smith

Q: What was the name of this passage?

A: the South Pass

Q: What types of settlers mainly traveled into the Oregon Country?

A: missionaries

Q: What term describes people who accept a new religion?

A: converts

Q: Who were these missionaries eager to convert to Christianity?

A: Native Americans

Q: What did most settlers to the Oregon Country travel in?

A: prarie schooners

Q: What campaign slogan for James K. Polk described the fight

over the latitude of the U.S.’s claims to the Oregon Country?

A: “fifty four forty or fight!”

Q: At what line of latitude did the United States & Great Britain

agree to divide the Oregon Country?

A: 49th parallel

Q: How did Mexico respond when Polk offered to buy the territories

of California & New Mexico?

A: the refused to see him

Q: What river did Texans claim was their border between the

United States & Mexico?

A: the Rio Grande River

Q: What river did Mexicans claim was their border between Texas &

Mexico?

A: the Nueces River

Q: When Mexican soldiers fired shots on Texans near the Rio

Grande River, what did Congress do?

A: declare war on Mexico

Q: Under the direction of General Stephen Kearny, what did the United States Army do in New

Mexico?

A: they occupied it (took control)

Q: When troops took over Northern California, what

emblem did they draw on their flag?

A: a bear

Q: Who was the “rough & ready” no-nonsense general who fought Santa Anna near the Buena Vista

ranch?

A: Zachary Taylor

Q: At what castle did Americans & Mexicans continue their battle?

A: Chapultepec

Q: What do Mexicans call the six heroic cadets who chose to die

fighting rather than to surrender?

A: Los Ninos Heroes (the heroic children)

Q: At what capital city did Mexico finally surrender to the United

States?

A: Mexico City

Q: What treaty did Mexico & the United States agree to in 1848?

A: the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Q: In this treaty, what did Mexico agree to give up?

A: half of their territory

Q: What term means to “give up” something?

A: cede or cession

Q: What did the United States agree to give Mexico in return?

A: $15 million

Q: Under the terms of the treaty, who did the United States agree

to protect?

A: Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago

Q: What term describes a grant of land made by the Mexican

government, used to raise cattle & crops?

A: rancho

Q: What term described the typical Spanish-speaking

Californian?

A: Californio

Q: What became California’s most important industry in the 1830s?

A: cattle ranching

Q: What did a number of Mountain Men leave behind as

their legacy?

A: their personal journals

Q: What were the names of one of the couples who first traveled

the Oregon Trail?

A: Marcus & Narcissa Whitman or Henry & Eliza Spalding

Q: Why were these couples traveling to the Oregon Country?

A: they aimed to convert Native Americans to Christianity

Q: What Native American tribe were the Whitmans not able to

convert & actually deeply offended?

A: the Cayuse Indians

Q: What Native American tribe did the Spaldings succeed in converting to Christianity?

A: the Nez Perce Indians

Q: What term describes a plot of land where pioneers could build a

home, farm, or ranch?

A: homestead

Q: In what town did many of the pioneer women meet to begin

their journey west?

A: Independence, Missouri

Q: Approximately how long was the journey west that covered

2,000 miles?

A: four to six months

Q: What was the worst killer for pioneers heading west?

A: disease

Q: What religion is also referred to as the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-Day (Modern) Saints?

A: Mormons

Q: Who was the leader of the Mormon church who persuaded

others to join him in Utah?

A: Brigham Young

Q: Next to what body of water in Utah did the Mormons settle?

A: Great Salt Lake

Q: What Mormon practice did many people find to be most

offensive?

A: polygamy (having more than one wife)

Q: Who did an angry mob (resenting the Mormon’s power

and wealth) kill in 1844?

A: Joseph Smith

Q: What was the main reason Mormons chose to settle in the

west?

A: freedom from religious persecution

Q: Who was the first man to spot gold in a river in Northern

California?

A: James Marshall

Q: What term describes the people (almost all young men) who joined the rush for gold in

California in 1849?

A: forty-niners

Q: What was extremely scarce about life in California during the

gold rush?

A: women

Q: What made the gold camps rough places?

A: no police

Q: What was the greatest legacy left by the gold miners?

A: California’s population grew large enough to become the first

western state

Q: What did the Chinese call the “Gold Mountain” in California in

1848?

A: Gam Saan

Q: By 1852, what percentage of California’s population were

Chinese?

A: 10%

Q: What law did California’s state legislature pass in 1852 that

discriminated against the Chinese?

A: required foreign miners to pay a monthly fee for a license to

mine

Q: What Californian town did many Chinese immigrants settle

into, which is today still the largest Chinese population in the

United States?

A: San Francisco