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Quiz for American Voices: The Mexican War: Expansion and Slavery

Question

1. According to John O’Sullivan, what justified the United States’ decision to annex Texas in 1845?

Manifest Destiny

Mexico’s neglect of the region

British interference in the region

Texas’s independent status

Correct. The answer is d. O’Sullivan suggested that the federal government’s decision to annex Texas was completely acceptable, not only because it was the nation’s “manifest destiny to overspread the continent,” but because Texas was an independent nation that Mexico no longer controlled.

Incorrect. The answer is d. O’Sullivan suggested that the federal government’s decision to annex Texas was completely acceptable, not only because it was the nation’s “manifest destiny” to overspread the continent,” but because Texas was an independent nation that Mexico no longer controlled.

Question

2. How did O’Sullivan seek to counter the argument that the annexation of Texas was a pro-slavery measure?

He suggested that slavery in Texas would reduce its prevalence in the Upper South.

He argued that there would be no legal slavery in the state of Texas.

He posited that the annexation of Texas facilitated the annexation of California as a free state.

He emphasized that Texas already had slaves when it was a Mexican territory.

Correct. The answer is a. O’Sullivan countered the charge that the annexation of Texas was a pro-slavery measure by arguing that “the greater value in Texas of the slave labor now employed in [the most northerly of the southern] States, must soon produce the effect of draining off that labor southwardly.”

Incorrect. The answer is a. O’Sullivan countered the charge that the annexation of Texas was a pro-slavery measure by arguing that “the greater value in Texas of the slave labor now employed in [the most northerly of the southern] States, must soon produce the effect of draining off that labor southwardly.”

Question

3. James Buchanan’s letter to John Slidell reveals that the Mexican War broke out as a result of

Mexican aggression.

a misunderstanding.

a military accident.

American aggression.

Correct. The answer is d. Buchanan’s letter to Slidell instructed him to pursue Mexico’s cession of its territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande to Texas and to seek American possession of New Mexico and California. He explained that the United States was particularly intent upon “the possession of the Bay and harbor of San Francisco” and that “money would be no object.”

Incorrect. The answer is d. Buchanan’s letter to Slidell instructed him to pursue Mexico’s cession of its territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande to Texas and to seek American possession of New Mexico and California. He explained that the United States was particularly intent upon “the possession of the Bay and harbor of San Francisco” and that “money would be no object.”

Question

4. What argument does Whitman make against the expansion of slavery?

Slavery destroys the ability of free white wageworkers to successfully compete economically.

The expansion of slavery would destabilize the union.

The expansion of slavery would lead the country to war with Mexico.

The expansion of slavery was immoral.

Correct. The answer is a. In his editorial, Whitman articulated his objections to the expansion of slavery because of its negative effect on free labor.

Incorrect. The answer is a. In his editorial, Whitman articulated his objections to the expansion of slavery because of its negative effect on free labor.

Question

5. According to Sumner, what made the Mexican War an unjust one?

The American troops’ refusal to retreat after the Mexicans organized to defend their territory

The willingness of the U.S. Congress to furnish supplies, men, and money for it

The United States’ disregard for the borders the Republic of Texas had maintained

The United States’ plan to institute slavery in the territories it won from Mexico

Correct. The answer is c. Sumner argued that since Texas had only been able to maintain jurisdiction over the territory that was defined by the Nueces River, it was an unjust act of aggression for the United States to take possession of the land between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande.

Incorrect. The answer is c. Sumner argued that since Texas had only been able to maintain jurisdiction over the territory that was defined by the Nueces River, it was an unjust act of aggression for the United States to take possession of the land between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande.