history

Order Description
Manifest Destiny and the Mexican War dramatically esclated sectional tensions. The acquisition of vast new territories from Mexico, coupled with California Gold Rush, dramatically intensified the growing crisis. Analyze and discuss Manifest Destiny and the acquisition of vast new territories as a result of the Mexican War. Discuss the domestic problems that emerged in the aftermath of the Mexican War and how they were “resolved” in the Compromise of 1850, supposedly the “final settlement” of the slavery question, by now the overriding issue in American life. Analyze how that “final settlement” fell apart in the 1850s? How did the nation drift down the road to civil war as the decade came to a close?

Required reading: chpater 13 and 14. Paul S. Boyer, et al. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People, Vol. 1; 7 th ed.