Smore Assignment
A Social Studies Project
The Texas Revolution
Settlers moved to Texas because Texas had fertile land watered by many rivers. These attracted westward bound U.S. citizens. Soon, Mexico got independence from Spain. They saw that Texas was unoccupied land and moved in. U.S. citizens soon came to Texas and were disobeying Mexican laws. The Mexicans were angry upon this as the law required that people should be Catholic and should not own slaves. Eventually, Mexican Santa Anna became dictator. Citizens started a rebellion, creating the Battle of the Alamo. The citizens were about to win, but then Santa Anna killed 183 troops defending the Alamo and later killed 342 rebels. Santa Anna had won. However, the rebels' story does not end. Sam Houston led 900 Texas rebels screaming "Remember the Alamo!" to defeat Santa Anna's army in the Battle of San Jacinto. This was somewhat surprising as Santa Anna's army had more soldiers.
The Battle of San Jacinto
The Mexican and American War
The United States wanted to settle land all the way to the Pacific Ocean to spread democracy. President James K. Polk acted quickly to acquire Texas and Oregon, as the territories were disputed with Britain. Britain didn't want to go to war over the territory and gave the U.S. Oregon. Texas was annexed in 1845. The United States were moving into Texas and California at that point, which angered Mexico. The U.S. citizens were not obeying Mexican laws and Mexico and the U.S. disagreed over the border of Texas. General Zachary Taylor was sent to settle the dispute and offered to buy New Mexico, but Mexican troops took offense and attacked Taylor's troops. This caused Polk to declare war. The U.S. Army had better weapons and equipment, but were outnumbered and ill-prepared. Towards the end of the war, the U.S. declared California independent of Mexico. This was called the Bear Flag Revolt. American troops pushed south to Mexico City and Mexico was forced to surrender. This led to the United States settling in the Mexican Cession. Also, the U.S. signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which gave the United States California, Nevada and Utah, and ended the war. After all of this, the United States bought Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico. This was called the Gadsden Purchase.
The Manifest Destiny
The angel in the Manifest Destiny can represent three things. It can represent that God is on your side, because she's an angel, progress, because of the educational book and her holding the telegraph wire, and it represents Columbia. In the corner, there are settling farmers, miners and other settlers. Towards the east, there is a light sky representing hope for the U.S. In the west there is a dark sky, as nobody knows what the treacherous west has in store for them.
The Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail started at Independence, Missouri and ended up at Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe was where many traders traded at Santa Fe.
The Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail started at Independence, Missouri and ended up at Oregon City, Oregon. This trail was for people that wanted farmland.
The California Trail
The California Trail went from the Missouri River or Independence, Missouri to Sacramento, California. This trail was for people who were looking for gold and wanted nice land.
The Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail started at Nauvoo, Illinois and ended at Salt Lake City, Utah. This was for Mormons who wanted to still have their normal life and not be killed.
1827
In 1827 the US agree to occupy Oregon. In 1818 before this, the treaty of Oregon was signed, setting the boundary between the US and Canada.
1836
March 2, 1836 Texas formally declared independence from Mexico, shortly before winning the battle of the Alamo.
1845
In 1845, Texas was annexed and became apart of the United States.
1846
In 1846 the United States declared war on Mexico because of a disagreement of the border of Texas. This started the Mexican-American War.
1848
When the United States won the Mexican-American War, them and Mexico signed the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which gave the United States the Mexican Cession which was a little more than four present-day states of land.
1848
Also in 1848, gold was discovered in California.
1849
The discovery of gold led an unbelievably amount of people towards California for a chance to get gold. This was called the California Gold Rush.
1853
The Gadsden Purchase was made in the year of 1853. This was an agreement between the United States and Mexico for land. The United States payed Mexico $10 million for the remaining land in New Mexico and Arizona.
Performance Writing
a. My store is not booming yet. Of course, I haven't had any luck with finding gold. The city is packed with people but many are sending letters of despair home. I hope to make a good product here in my store so I can make lots of profit. I'm thinking about creating some better pants.
Performance Writing
b. I've heard of many plans for how people are going to mine for gold, but only a few reasons. Some people wanted to strike it rich, while others wanted to start a new life in California and have the gold be an investment for which they hope to build on. Many people are talking about hydraulic mining. I just don't like that type of mining. It hurts the environment.
Performance Writing
c. Oh, my family is going to be so disappointed. Here I thought gold was just going to be lying around. (Now writing letter) I have been here for weeks as you know. The weather is absolutely beautiful and the competition and Gold Rush is amazing. However, since their is all of the competition, I'm not finding any gold. I know you will be disappointed, but there isn't gold just lying around like we thought. My group works hard every day to mine and find gold but we are barely getting enough food. I wish I could find some gold and start a new life here, but that's looking unlikely at this point. Sorry to let you down.
Yours Truly,
The awesome 49er