THE GROWTH OF USA AND

JAPAN
MADE BY AHMAD RAZA
 THE MEXICAN AMERICAN WAR

• The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican
War and in Mexico as the México (United States intervention in Mexico), was an
armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It
followed in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, not formally recognized
by the Mexican government, disputing the Treaties of Velasco signed by
Mexican caudillo President/General Antonio López de Santa Anna after the Texas
Revolution a decade earlier. In 1845, newly elected U.S. President James K. Polk,
who saw the annexation of Texas as the first step towards a further expansion of the
United States, sent troops to the disputed area and a diplomatic mission to Mexico.
After Mexican forces attacked U.S. forces, the United States Congress declared war.
 COMPLETING THE FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL
RAILROAD
• The First Transcontinental Railroad was a 1,912-mile (3,077 km) continuous railroad line
constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail network
at Council Bluffs, Iowa with the Pacific coast at the Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco
Bay. The rail line was built by three private companies over public lands provided by
extensive US land grants. Construction was financed by both state and US government subsidy
bonds as well as by company issued mortgage bonds. The Western Pacific Railroad
Company built 132 miles (212 km) of track from the road's western terminus
at Alameda/Oakland to Sacramento, California. The Central Pacific Railroad Company of
California (CPRR) constructed 690 miles (1,110 km) eastward from Sacramento to Promontory
Summit, Utah Territory. The Union Pacific built 1,085 mi (1,746 km) from the road's eastern
terminus at Council Bluffs near Omaha, Nebraska westward to Promontory Summit.
 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

• The Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important
engagement of the American Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces at
Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into
Pennsylvania in late June 1863. On July 1, the advancing Confederates clashed with the
Union’s Army of the Potomac, commanded by General George G. Meade, at the crossroads
town of Gettysburg. The next day saw even heavier fighting, as the Confederates attacked
the Federals on both left and right. On July 3, Lee ordered an attack by fewer than 15,000
troops on the enemy’s center at Cemetery Ridge. The assault, known as “Pickett’s Charge,”
managed to pierce the Union lines but eventually failed, at the cost of thousands of rebel
casualties, and Lee was forced to withdraw his battered army toward Virginia on July 4.
 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG

• The Battle of Gettysburg, fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, is considered the most important
engagement of the American Civil War. After a great victory over Union forces at
Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into
Pennsylvania in late June 1863. On July 1, the advancing Confederates clashed with the
Union’s Army of the Potomac, commanded by General George G. Meade, at the crossroads
town of Gettysburg. The next day saw even heavier fighting, as the Confederates attacked
the Federals on both left and right. On July 3, Lee ordered an attack by fewer than 15,000
troops on the enemy’s center at Cemetery Ridge. The assault, known as “Pickett’s Charge,”
managed to pierce the Union lines but eventually failed, at the cost of thousands of rebel
casualties, and Lee was forced to withdraw his battered army toward Virginia on July 4.
 JAPAN THE END OF TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE

• In the mid-19th century, an alliance of several of the more powerful daimyo, along
with the titular Emperor, succeeded in overthrowing the shogunate after the Boshin
War, culminating in the Meiji Restoration. The Tokugawa shogunate came to an
official end in 1868 with the resignation of the 15th Tokugawa shogun Tokugawa
Yoshinobu, leading to the restoration of imperial rule. Not withstanding its eventual
overthrow in favor of the more modernized, less feudal form of governance of the
Meiji Restoration, the Tokugawa shogunate oversaw the longest period of peace and
stability in Japan's history, lasting well over 260 years.
 THE MEIGI RESTORATION

• The Meiji Restoration, also known as the Meiji Renovation, was an event that
restored practical imperial rule to the Empire of Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji.
Although there were ruling emperors before the Meiji Restoration, the events restored
practical abilities and consolidated the political system under the emperor of Japan.
• The goals of the restored government were expressed by the new emperor in
the Charter Oath. The Restoration led to enormous changes in Japan's political and
social structure and spanned both the late Edo period (often called the Bakumatsu)
and the beginning of the Meiji period. During the period, Japan
rapidly industrialized and adopted western ideas and production methods.
 THE RUSSO JAPANESE WAR

• The Russo-Japanese War was a military conflict fought between

the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan from 1904 to 1905.
Much of the fighting took place in what is now northeastern China.
The Russo-Japanese War was also a naval conflict, with ships
exchanging fire in the waters surrounding the Korean peninsula.
The brutal conflict in the western Pacific changed the balance of
power in Asia and set the stage for World War I.