to get or come to own something

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Acquire

Adding territory to a country

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Annexation

Expansion

​To move in a direction or to grow

Land that is given up, or ceded, by one country to another

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Cession

Manifest Destiny

​The belief it was God’s will, or destiny, for the United States to stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean

Mormons

Religious group and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who were persecuted for their religious beliefs. Their leader was Brigham Young.

The trail created overland from Independence, Missouri to the Pacific coast of Oregon

Railroad that stretches across a continent; railroad that connected the East and West coasts by crossing the Rocky Mountains; completed as a result of the Gadsen Purchase.

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TranscontinentalRailroad