Which war between the United States and Mexico led to territorial expansion and sparked debate about admitting new slave states?

Which war between the United States and Mexico led to territorial expansion and sparked debate about admitting new slave states?

• A. Women's Movement
• B. Abolitionist Movement
• C. Manifest Destiny
• D. Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

Answer: (D)

The main idea being tested is how a specific war linked to U.S. expansion intensified the fight over whether new lands would permit slavery. The Mexican-American War (1846–1848) produced the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which the United States acquired a vast stretch of territory—California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming—and solidified the Texas border at the Rio Grande. This dramatic territorial gain brought large new areas into the national spotlight, where lawmakers and citizens debated whether slavery would be legal in these territories and future states. That debate fed into the broader sectional conflicts of the era and helped set the stage for legislative battles and compromises in the 1850s. The other options don’t fit as directly. The Women's Movement and Abolitionist Movement were important reform currents but do not describe a specific war that expanded territory or ignited the immediate slavery-admission debate tied to new lands. Manifest Destiny is the concept that drove expansion, not a war itself. The Mexican-American War is the event that directly connected territorial growth with the heated policy question about admitting new slave states.

The main idea being tested is how a specific war linked to U.S. expansion intensified the fight over whether new lands would permit slavery. The Mexican-American War (1846–1848) produced the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which the United States acquired a vast stretch of territory—California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming—and solidified the Texas border at the Rio Grande. This dramatic territorial gain brought large new areas into the national spotlight, where lawmakers and citizens debated whether slavery would be legal in these territories and future states. That debate fed into the broader sectional conflicts of the era and helped set the stage for legislative battles and compromises in the 1850s.

The other options don’t fit as directly. The Women's Movement and Abolitionist Movement were important reform currents but do not describe a specific war that expanded territory or ignited the immediate slavery-admission debate tied to new lands. Manifest Destiny is the concept that drove expansion, not a war itself. The Mexican-American War is the event that directly connected territorial growth with the heated policy question about admitting new slave states.