Exercise
Form 13: Westward Expansion & The Balance of Power
Study how westward expansion threatened the political balance of power between free and slave states. Understand the ongoing efforts to maintain equilibrium in Congress.
Questions
-
MultiChoice
What term described the popular 19th-century belief that the U.S. was destined to expand across North America?
-
MultiChoice
Why did every new western territory added to the U.S. create political conflict in Congress?
-
MultiChoice
What treaty ended the Mexican-American War in 1848 and ceded vast southwestern lands to the U.S.?
-
MultiChoice
What proviso proposed in 1846 aimed to ban slavery in any land acquired from Mexico?
-
MultiChoice
Did the Wilmot Proviso ever become federal law?
-
MultiChoice
How did the California Gold Rush of 1849 accelerate sectional tension?
-
MultiChoice
Why was maintaining an equal number of free and slave states so vital to Southern leaders?
-
MultiChoice
What political party emerged in 1848 with the main goal of keeping slavery out of western lands?
-
MultiChoice
What slogan was used by the Free-Soil Party in the 1848 election?
-
MultiChoice
How did the outcome of the Mexican-American War affect sectionalism?
-
MultiChoice
What land acquisition in 1853 was purchased from Mexico to build a southern transcontinental railroad route?
-
MultiChoice
Why were Northern anti-slavery politicians suspicious of expansionist efforts in Cuba and Central America in the 1850s?