US History Unit 5 Study Guide

Study Notes

The Oregon Trail was a major route for settlers moving westward in the 19th century
Brigham Young led the Mormons to establish a successful settlement in Salt Lake City, Utah
The Transcontinental Railroad connected the eastern and western United States, facilitating travel and trade
The Homestead Act provided land to settlers willing to develop and live on it for a certain period
Sodbusters were farmers who used new farming techniques to cultivate the Great Plains
The Populist Party advocated for the rights of farmers and laborers against big business interests

Stephen F. Austin played a key role in the colonization of Texas by Americans
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution
The Texas Revolution was the 1836 rebellion in which Texas gained its independence from Mexico
The annexation of Texas led to its admission as a state in the United States
The concept of Manifest Destiny was the belief that the U.S. was destined to expand across the continent
The Gold Rush attracted thousands of people to California in search of wealth
The 49ers were the nickname for the people who migrated to California during the Gold Rush

The Mexican-American War resulted in the Mexican Cession of territories to the U.S.
The Mexican Cession was the territory Mexico ceded to the U.S. after the Mexican-American War

Abolition was the advocacy for the abolition of slavery in the United States
Frederick Douglass was an American abolitionist and writer who escaped slavery and became a leading African American spokesman and writer
Nat Turner was a United States slave and insurrectionist who led a rebellion of slaves in Virginia in 1831
The Liberator was an abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison
The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses to help enslaved individuals escape
Harriett Tubman was a prominent conductor of the Underground Railroad
The Free Soil Party advocated for the exclusion of slavery from the western territories
The Compromise of 1850 addressed the issue of slavery in newly acquired territories
Bleeding Kansas was a conflict over the extension of slavery into Kansas
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, depicting the harsh realities of slavery