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