May you change the wording to make it seem professional? What...

May you change the wording to make it seem professional? What were the major factors contributing to US territorial expansion in the 1840's? A complex mix and a great number of social, political, and economic challenges were the major factors that contributed to expansion in the 1840's. Perhaps the most influential was the Mexican War which paved the way for many other important events, from the eviction of Native Americans to the Civil War and allowed the addition of states, such as California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and pieces of Colorado and Wyoming. It also helped fulfill the concept of Manifest Destiny. Similar to the notion of Divine Providence, many Americans believed that God preordained the United States and the settlers to take or occupy as much land as possible. Americans also became increasingly eager for more land as the population grew, there was worry and fear that if they did not occupy then the British would. Other important factors are the economic ties with California due to the recent discovery of gold and John C. Calhoun's letter which connected the idea of making Texas interested to the expansion of slavery. Why did the expansion of slavery become the most divisive political issue in the 1840's and 1850s? The 1840's and 1850's was a complicated and problematic time, especially with the expansion of slavery and alienating political issues. The effects of the Mexican War changed many things, it increased the size of the United States and started the debates between northerners and southerners over what to do with new land. The main problem was that the north and south were split between pro-slave and anti-slave states. The north didn't want to accept the addition of a new state unless it was a free state, compared to the south who were not going to accept a new state unless it was still a slave state. It was a question of morals, because although the northerners thought the institution of slavery was inhuman, most were not completely sure because they had benefited from it for so long and they still did not believe in racial equality Which led to abolitionists versus the Free Soil Party. Either way, both the north and south wanted to control the Senate, this issue also changed political parties, the Whig Party was dissolved, and due to the split, the Democrat won the 1852 presidential campaign. Useful Vocabulary Words Annexation - occupying or seizing something, especially territory. Divisive - something that causes disagreement or unfriendly behavior Stridency - explaining or expressing something in a forceful way that does not try to avoid upsetting people Quotes "Allow the President to invade a neighboring country whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion," he declared, "and you allow him to make war at pleasure...If today he should choose to say he thinks necessary to invade Canada to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him?" - Abraham Lincoln I picked this quote because I agree with Abraham Lincoln and his response to Polk and I think that it is odd that when "Democrats "captured" his seat in 1848, many blamed the result on Lincoln's criticism of the war." I also agree with the author's point when they say, "But the concerns he raised regarding the president's power to "make war at pleasure" would continue to echo in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries." "Events soon confirmed Ralph Waldo Emerson's prediction that if the United States gobbled up part of Mexico, "it will be as the man who swallows arsenic...Mexico will poison us."" I picked this quote because there was something about it that made me remember it, even after reading. It also seemed like a very common sense thing to say, similar to Abraham Lincoln's quote, that was obviously not heeded or listened to. Important Date, Number, or Statistic Mexican American War: April 25, 1846 - February 2, 1848 "With the end of the Mexican War, the United States absorbed half a million square miles of Mexico's territory, one third of the nation's total area." '