• The Oregon Country was a large area north of California, extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. The United States, Great Britain, Russia, and Spain all claimed it.

• In the Adams-Onís Treaty, Spain gave up claims to land north of California. Russia gave up its claims south of Alaska. The United States and Great Britain agreed to joint occupation of the area.

• Fur traders, or mountain men, were the first people from the United States to live in the Oregon Country. They trapped beavers and sold the furs to large fur companies.

• In the 1830s Americans began traveling to the Oregon Country. This began the “great migration” of Americans coming west to start a new life. Many Americans came to believe in Manifest Destiny, that the country should extend all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

• James K. Polk won the presidential election by supporting Manifest Destiny. His slogan was “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight.” The United States and Britain compromised on latitude 49˚N as the border between the American and British parts of Oregon.

Section 2: Statehood for Florida & Texas

• Florida, formerly a colony of Spain, became a United States territory in 1821. Plantation owners from the South, who had worn out their land, began to settle in the new territory of Florida and plant cotton and tobacco.

• As the population grew, the people of Florida applied for statehood in 1839. The application was delayed because admitting Florida as a slave state would upset the balance in Congress. In 1845, Iowa joined the union as a free state, and Florida joined the nation as a slave state.

• American settlers in the Mexican territory of Texas rebelled against Mexico. All the American defenders were killed at the Alamo, but "Remember the Alamo" became a rallying cry. After winning the Battle of San Jacinto, Texas became an independent country, the Lone Star Republic.

• Texas wanted to join the United States. It was annexed in 1844 and became a state in 1845.

Section 3: War with Mexico

• American trader William Becknell opened a new route to the West by traveling south to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other traders followed the Santa Fe Trail, and soon Americans were arriving in Santa Fe to settle.

• In the 1700s, the Spanish built Catholic missions in California and worked to bring Christianity to Native Americans. Later, Mexico claimed the area and built large estates called ranchos.

• American settlers were attracted to California’s mild climate and vast natural resources. They also believed that the area was part of Manifest Destiny.

• In 1846, General John C. Frémont led Americans in California in an uprising. They defeated Mexican forces and declared California independent as the Bear Flag Republic.

• President Polk provoked a war with Mexico. Mexico lost the war and signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The United States gained what is now California, Nevada, and Utah, most of Arizona and New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.

Section 4: California & Utah

• When gold was discovered in California in 1848, thousands of people rushed west. Those who arrive in 1849 were called forty niners. By 1849 not only Americans but people from as far away as China came to find gold and get rich. Boomtowns grew quickly.

• Most of the forty-niners did not get rich from the Gold Rush. However, they often stayed in California to farm or become merchants.

• California grew, and in 1850 it applied to become a state. Because the California constitution banned slavery, the application caused a crisis. As a result of a compromise over the issue, California became a state later that year.

• Joseph Smith founded a new religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons. It was based on visions he had received.

• Smith and his followers formed a community in New York and then moved to Illinois. The Mormons faced persecution because of their beliefs, and in 1844 a mob killed Smith. Brigham Young then led the Mormons to Utah.

• Through hard work and determination, the Mormons built prosperous communities in the rough desert area. After the war with Mexico, Utah became a territory of the United States. However, because of the Mormon belief in polygamy, the idea that a man could have more than one wife, and conflicts with federal officials, Utah did not become a state until 1896.

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