Essential Questions

1. Essential Questions How did Mormon settlement and the gold rush lead to changes in the west? Why were water rights an important issue? How did the gold rush permanently alter the make-up of California’s population?

2. Vocabulary (choose three) • Mormons • Joseph Smith • Polygamy • Brigham Young • Forty-Niners • Water Rights • Vigilantes

3. 14.3 Conflict with Mexico Timeline 1820 • Spanish governor of Texas gives Moses Austin permission to establish a small colony in Texas. • His son Stephen Austin takes it over when Moses dies.

4. 1821 • Mexico becomes independent from Spain.

5. 1830 • Mexico banned further American settlements. • Texans continue to come and bring slaves. • Mexico levy (forces to pay) heavy taxes.

6. 1833 • General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana becomes president of Mexico. • Abolition Mexican constitution and named his self dictator (one-person ruler).

7. 1836 • Texas declares independence from Mexico. • Santa Ana lay siege (an attack in which one force surrounds a city or fort) at the Alamo. All American men killed. • Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna forced to sign treaty, recognizing Texas independence. • Republic of Texas from 1836-1845. Sam Houston president.

8. 1844 • Annexation of Texas debated during election. • Whig nominated Henry Clay as presidential candidate. • James K. Polk wanted both Texas and Oregon annexed, Polk elected president.

9. 1845 • Texas annexed (to add on) into the United States.

10. 1846 • Mexican-American War begins. Due to the annexation of Texas and border disputes. • Mexico does not want to cede (give up) more land.

11. 1847 • Southern California under American control due to the Bear Flag Rebellion. John C. Fremont becomes its leader.

12. 1848 • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo formally ends war. • Mexican Cession, territory lost California, Nevada, Utah, parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. • USA gives Mexico $18 million.

14. 1853 • Gadsden Purchase, USA pays Mexico $10 million for a narrow strip of land in New Mexico and Arizona. (look on page 332)

15. 15.1 A Rush to the West Main Idea After the United States gained the lands known as the Mexican Cession, a large number of Americans began to settle in this vast regions.

16. Mormons settle Utah • The Mormons, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. • Believed in community property. • Polygamy (practice of having more than one wife at a time.)

17. Seeking Refuge • Moved from New York, Ohio, Missouri, and then Illinois. • Joseph Smith murdered. • Brigham Young, new leader in 1847 leads a party of Mormons to Utah.

20. Utah • Farming difficult in desert climate. • Under strict church supervision, they enclosed and distributed farmland and efficient irrigation system.

21. Conflicts with the Government • Mormon church controlled the election process in Utah Territory. Non-Mormons had no say. • Mormons controlled businesses. Outsiders had difficulty doing business. • Polygamy, illegal in the rest of the country. • Utah didn’t become a state until 1896.

22. California Gold Rush • In 1848, about 10,000 Californios (Mexican- Californians) lived on large ranchos. • 1849, gold is found at Sutter’s mill. • 80,000 people seek their fortunes, known as forty-niners (people coming to California in search of gold). • Over 100,000 people living in California by 1851.

25. Water Rights • Legal rights to use water in a river, streams, or other body. • Water needed for irrigation and mining. • People could use the water on their land the way they want to and it was illegal to cut off water to one’s neighbors. • Laws were ignored.

26. Life in Mining Towns • Sprung up as fast as they would emptied, due to gold strikes. • Rough living and expensive. • Punishment for crimes were quick and brutal. • Vigilantes (self-appointed law enforcers) punished people for crimes, but had no legal right to do it.

28. Ratio of Men to women was 20 to 1. • Women worked in boarding houses, hotels, restaurants, laundries, and stores. • Few 49er’s became rich, many continued to search for gold or silver throughout the west.

29. California Changing Population • By 1860, 40% of California’s population was foreign-born. • 45,000 Chinese, worked doing menial work, cooking, or doing laundry. -Built railroads or farmed. • African-Americans faced discrimination and segregation. Slavery banned.

31. Native Americans -Lands taken away. -Vigilante gangs killed them. -2/3 died during the gold rush. • Californios -Lost political power. -Heavily taxed. -lands taken away.

32. Statehood • California became a state in 1850. • Lead to national crisis.