AMSCO APUSH UPDATED EXAM SCRIPT QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔farming frontier - ✔✔In the 1830s and 1840s pioneer families moved west to start
homesteads and begin farming. Government programs allowed settlers to purchase
inexpensive parcels of land. (p. 237)
✔✔urban frontier - ✔✔Western cities that arose as a result of railroads, mineral wealth,
and farming. They included San Francisco, Denver, and Salt Lake City. (p. 238)
✔✔federal land grants - ✔✔In 1850, the U.S. government gave 2.6 million acres of
federal land to build the Illinois Central railroad from Lake Michigan to Gulf of Mexico.
(p. 238)
✔✔John Tyler - ✔✔He was elected Vice President, then he became the tenth president
(1841-1845) when Benjamin Harrison died. He was responsible for the annexation of
Mexico after receiving a mandate from Polk. He opposed many parts of the Whig
program for economic recovery. (p. 231)
✔✔Oregon territory - ✔✔This was a vast territory on the Pacific coast that stretched as
far north as the Alaskan border. Originally the United States was interested in all the
territory, but in 1846 Britain and the U.S. agreed to divide the territory at the 49th
Parallel, today's border between Canada and the United States. (p. 232)
✔✔Fifty-four Forty or Fight - ✔✔The slogan of James K. Polk's plan for the Oregon
Territory. They wanted the border of the territory to be on 54' 40° latitude (near present-
day Alaska) and were willing to fight Britain over it. Eventually, 49 degrees latitude was
adopted as the northern border of the United States, and there was no violence. (p.
232)
✔✔James K. Polk - ✔✔The eleventh U.S. president from 1845 to 1849. He was a slave
owning southerner dedicated to Democratic party. In 1844, he was a "dark horse"
candidate for president, and a protege of Andrew Jackson. He favored American
expansion, especially advocating the annexation of Texas, California, and Oregon. (p.
232)
✔✔Wilmot Proviso - ✔✔In 1846, the first year of the Mexican War, this bill would forbid
slavery in any of the new territories acquired from Mexico. the bill passed the House
twice, but was defeated in the Senate. (p. 234)
✔✔Franklin Pierce - ✔✔In 1852, he was elected the fourteenth president of the United
States. (p. 236)
✔✔Ostend Manifesto - ✔✔The United States offered to purchase Cuba from Spain.
When the plan leaked to the press in the United States, it provoked an angry reaction
, from antislavery members of Congress, forcing President Franklin Pierce to drop the
plan. (p. 235)
✔✔Texas - ✔✔In 1823, Texas won its national independence from Spain. The
annexation of this state was by a joint resolution of Congress, supported by President-
elect James Polk. This annexation contributed to the Mexican War because the border
with Mexico was in dispute. Land from the Republic of Texas later became parts of New
Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming. (p. 233)
✔✔Stephen Austin - ✔✔In the 1820s, his father had obtained and large land grant in
Texas. He brought 300 families from Missouri to settle in Texas. (p. 231)
✔✔Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna - ✔✔In 1834, he established himself as dictator of
Mexico and attempted to enforce Mexico's laws in Texas. In March 1836 a group of
American settlers revolted and declared Texas to be an independent republic. He then
led an army which attacked the Alamo in San Antonio, killing all the American
defenders. Shortly after that, Sam Houston led an army that captured him and he was
forced to sign a treaty that recognized the independence of Texas. (p. 231)
✔✔Sam Houston - ✔✔In March 1836, he led a group of American settlers that revolted
against Mexico and declared Texas to be an independent republic. He led an army that
captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign a treaty that recognized Texas as an
independent republic. As the first president of the Republic of Texas, he applied to the
U.S. government for Texas to be added as a new state. It was many years before the
U.S. would act to add Texas as a state. (p. 231)
✔✔Alamo - ✔✔The mission and fort that was the site of a siege and battle during the
Texas Revolution, which resulted in the massacre of all its defenders. The event helped
galvanize the Texas rebels and led to their victory at the Battle of San Jacinto.
Eventually Texas would join the United States. (p. 231)
✔✔Aroostook War - ✔✔In the early 1840s, there was a dispute over the the British
North America (Canada) and Maine border. Open fighting broke out between rival
groups of lumbermen. The conflict was soon resolved by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty
of 1842. (p. 231)
✔✔Webster-Ashburton Treaty - ✔✔In this 1842 treaty US Secretary of State Daniel
Webster and British ambassador Lord Alexander Ashburton created a treaty splitting
New Brunswick territory into Maine and British Canada. It also settled the boundary of
the Minnesota territory. (p. 232)
✔✔Rio Grande; Nueces River - ✔✔In the 1840s the United States believed the
southern Texas border was the Rio Grande River. Mexico believed the border was
further north on the Nueces River. (p. 233)
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔farming frontier - ✔✔In the 1830s and 1840s pioneer families moved west to start
homesteads and begin farming. Government programs allowed settlers to purchase
inexpensive parcels of land. (p. 237)
✔✔urban frontier - ✔✔Western cities that arose as a result of railroads, mineral wealth,
and farming. They included San Francisco, Denver, and Salt Lake City. (p. 238)
✔✔federal land grants - ✔✔In 1850, the U.S. government gave 2.6 million acres of
federal land to build the Illinois Central railroad from Lake Michigan to Gulf of Mexico.
(p. 238)
✔✔John Tyler - ✔✔He was elected Vice President, then he became the tenth president
(1841-1845) when Benjamin Harrison died. He was responsible for the annexation of
Mexico after receiving a mandate from Polk. He opposed many parts of the Whig
program for economic recovery. (p. 231)
✔✔Oregon territory - ✔✔This was a vast territory on the Pacific coast that stretched as
far north as the Alaskan border. Originally the United States was interested in all the
territory, but in 1846 Britain and the U.S. agreed to divide the territory at the 49th
Parallel, today's border between Canada and the United States. (p. 232)
✔✔Fifty-four Forty or Fight - ✔✔The slogan of James K. Polk's plan for the Oregon
Territory. They wanted the border of the territory to be on 54' 40° latitude (near present-
day Alaska) and were willing to fight Britain over it. Eventually, 49 degrees latitude was
adopted as the northern border of the United States, and there was no violence. (p.
232)
✔✔James K. Polk - ✔✔The eleventh U.S. president from 1845 to 1849. He was a slave
owning southerner dedicated to Democratic party. In 1844, he was a "dark horse"
candidate for president, and a protege of Andrew Jackson. He favored American
expansion, especially advocating the annexation of Texas, California, and Oregon. (p.
232)
✔✔Wilmot Proviso - ✔✔In 1846, the first year of the Mexican War, this bill would forbid
slavery in any of the new territories acquired from Mexico. the bill passed the House
twice, but was defeated in the Senate. (p. 234)
✔✔Franklin Pierce - ✔✔In 1852, he was elected the fourteenth president of the United
States. (p. 236)
✔✔Ostend Manifesto - ✔✔The United States offered to purchase Cuba from Spain.
When the plan leaked to the press in the United States, it provoked an angry reaction
, from antislavery members of Congress, forcing President Franklin Pierce to drop the
plan. (p. 235)
✔✔Texas - ✔✔In 1823, Texas won its national independence from Spain. The
annexation of this state was by a joint resolution of Congress, supported by President-
elect James Polk. This annexation contributed to the Mexican War because the border
with Mexico was in dispute. Land from the Republic of Texas later became parts of New
Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming. (p. 233)
✔✔Stephen Austin - ✔✔In the 1820s, his father had obtained and large land grant in
Texas. He brought 300 families from Missouri to settle in Texas. (p. 231)
✔✔Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna - ✔✔In 1834, he established himself as dictator of
Mexico and attempted to enforce Mexico's laws in Texas. In March 1836 a group of
American settlers revolted and declared Texas to be an independent republic. He then
led an army which attacked the Alamo in San Antonio, killing all the American
defenders. Shortly after that, Sam Houston led an army that captured him and he was
forced to sign a treaty that recognized the independence of Texas. (p. 231)
✔✔Sam Houston - ✔✔In March 1836, he led a group of American settlers that revolted
against Mexico and declared Texas to be an independent republic. He led an army that
captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign a treaty that recognized Texas as an
independent republic. As the first president of the Republic of Texas, he applied to the
U.S. government for Texas to be added as a new state. It was many years before the
U.S. would act to add Texas as a state. (p. 231)
✔✔Alamo - ✔✔The mission and fort that was the site of a siege and battle during the
Texas Revolution, which resulted in the massacre of all its defenders. The event helped
galvanize the Texas rebels and led to their victory at the Battle of San Jacinto.
Eventually Texas would join the United States. (p. 231)
✔✔Aroostook War - ✔✔In the early 1840s, there was a dispute over the the British
North America (Canada) and Maine border. Open fighting broke out between rival
groups of lumbermen. The conflict was soon resolved by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty
of 1842. (p. 231)
✔✔Webster-Ashburton Treaty - ✔✔In this 1842 treaty US Secretary of State Daniel
Webster and British ambassador Lord Alexander Ashburton created a treaty splitting
New Brunswick territory into Maine and British Canada. It also settled the boundary of
the Minnesota territory. (p. 232)
✔✔Rio Grande; Nueces River - ✔✔In the 1840s the United States believed the
southern Texas border was the Rio Grande River. Mexico believed the border was
further north on the Nueces River. (p. 233)
