1. Lesson 3: Mexican War and Failed Compromise
Unit 4: A Nation Divided
Lesson 3: Mexican War and Failed Compromise

2. How does this cartoon relate to sectionalism
How does this cartoon relate to sectionalism? Why did sectionalism become more severe as our territory expanded?

3. War with Mexico
The U.S. annexes Texas, causing a boundary dispute with Mexico.
Polk ordered the army into the disputed area where Mexican troops opened fire on the Americans
Polk then asked Congress to declared war on Mexico, claiming they were they aggressor

4. War with Mexico
The American army is ordered into Mexico, and out to California
Before the troops can reach California, a group of American settlers revolt and take the area naming it the Bear Flag Republic
In 1847, the U.S. Army enters Mexico City causing the Mexicans to surrender and ending the war

5. War With Mexico
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war, giving the U.S. a vast amount of land in the Southwest
The U.S. now stretched
from the Atlantic to the
Pacific Ocean
Why would this treaty cause problems with
the Slavery issue?

6. The Wilmot Proviso
During the Mexican War, in anticipation that we would win, a proposal was made in Congress for the territory gained in the Mexican War
Proposal for NO SLAVERY IN NEW TERRITORY
The proposal upset Southerners, and though it passed in the House, the Senate refused to vote on it
The Wilmot Proviso continued a north-south division over the slavery issue

7. What do we do with the New Territory?
To counter the Wilmot Proviso and to ease tension, a proposal was made to allow the new territories to decide for themselves on the slavery issue, an idea called popular sovereignty
California applied for statehood in 1849, threatening to break the balance of free and slave states
To settle the balance, Henry Clay proposed a resolution which became know as the Compromise of 1850 (remember this from a couple of days ago?)

10. 1820
1828
1846
1845
1848
Missouri Compromise
Andrew Jackson is elected/nullification crisis
Annexation of Texas
Mexican
War
Gold is discovered in CA
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Seneca Falls Convention
1853
1850
CA becomes a FREE state
Compromise of 1850
Gadsden Purchase
YES! Draw this in your notes! It will help with your understanding of how the US enters into the Civil War.

11. The Compromise didn’t last
During the 1850s, the U.S. Government developed the plan for a Transcontinental Railroad
The RR caused the same expansion issue to be revisited again- new territories needed to become states (Nebraska Territory)

12. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
The Compromise of 1850 settled the issue of CA , and the Missouri Compromise settled the issue of Missouri and Maine
Does the Missouri Compromise still apply to the areas in the middle of the country?
Many people thought that if we add in TWO territories, then one would be a slave territory, and the other would be a free territory, but this did not happen
If the Missouri Compromise stood, how would the slave states feel?

13. How about another compromise?
The Kansas-Nebraska Act
Terms of this bill:
Repeal the Missouri Compromise
Which would allow slavery in the region
Now, the slavery question was left up to the territories (Popular Sovereignty)
By this time, people’s support of slavery and opposition of slavery was extreme

15. Bleeding Kansas
In Kansas, supporters of slavery drafted a Constitution allowing slavery
Opponents of slavery drafted a Constitution that closes slavery to the territory
Violence erupted: known as “Bleeding Kansas”
Delays statehood of Kansas

16. Slavery and sectionalism intensifies
Many events show how the condition of the Union becomes more vulnerable during the 1850s
1852: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
1855: Bleeding Kansas
1857: Dred Scott Supreme Court Decision
1859: John Brown’s Raid

17. Exit Ticket!
When do you think it was clear that compromises would no longer work to resolve the expansion and slavery issue in the United States?