On the Brink of War

Manifest Destiny was used to justify an American desire to

• limit the number of immigrants entering the country
• control the area located east of the Appalachian Mountains
• expand the United States to the Pacific Ocean
• warn European countries against colonizing Latin America

The foreign policies of President James Polk involving Texas, California, and the Oregon Territory were all efforts to

• remain neutral toward western territories
• continue traditional American isolationism
• weaken the Monroe Doctrine
• fulfill the goal of Manifest Destiny

Which famous overland route was used by migrants to the West during the westward expansion?

• Oregon Trail

• Mormon Trail

• Santa Fe Trail

• California Trail

During the 1840s, abolitionists opposed annexation of new western territory because they

• feared the admission of new slave states
• wanted to limit the power of the national government
• were concerned with the legal rights of Native American Indians
• supported an isolationist foreign policy

The Mexican-American War (1846–1848) resulted in

• the annexation of Florida

• the acquisition of the Oregon Territory

• the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ceding vast territories to the U.S.

• a formal alliance between Mexico and the United States

The Wilmot Proviso attempted to

• ban slavery in all new territories gained from the Mexican-American War

• extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean

• prohibit the slave trade in Washington, D.C.

• protect Southern states' rights to own slaves

The California Gold Rush of 1849 led to all of the following EXCEPT

• rapid population growth in California

• admission of California as a free state

• widespread equality for all prospectors

• increased tensions over slavery in the West

In the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, popular sovereignty was proposed as a way to

• allow northern states the power to ban slavery
• deny southern states the legal right to own slaves
• allow settlers in new territories to vote on the issue of slavery
• overturn previous Supreme Court decisions on slavery

In what way did the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 impact the abolition movement?

• It strengthened the Underground Railroad as abolitionists increased their efforts.

• It ended the Underground Railroad by criminalizing abolitionist activities.

• It reduced tensions between the North and South.

• It resulted in the freeing of many enslaved individuals.

The Underground Railroad was

• a network of safe houses and routes used to help enslaved people escape to freedom

• a system of underground tunnels used to smuggle goods into the South

• a secret society advocating for Southern secession

• a campaign to expand railroads in the Western territories