Question

“With regard to the northwestern States, to which the ordinance of 1787 was applied—Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan—no one now believes that any one of those States, if they thought proper to do it, has not just as much a right to introduce slavery within her borders as Virginia has a right to maintain the existence of slavery within hers.“Then, if in this struggle of power and empire between the two classes of states a decision of California has taken place adverse to the wishes of the southern States, it is a decision not made by the General [federal] Government; it is a decision respecting which they cannot complain to the General Government. It is a decision made by California herself, and which California had incontestably a right to make under the Constitution of the United States. . . . The question of slavery, either of its introduction or interdiction, is silent as respects the action of this [federal] Government; and if it has been decided, it has been by a different body—by a different power—by California herself, who had a right to make that decision.”Senator Henry Clay, speech in the United States Senate, 1850
The position expressed by Clay in the excerpt best serves as evidence of which of the following?


Northern politicians showed less interest in California than Southern politicians.

Option A,Northern politicians showed less interest in California than Southern politicians.

a

The United States Senate could not agree on treaty terms with Mexico.

Option B,The United States Senate could not agree on treaty terms with Mexico.

b

The acquisition of new territories created disputes over the expansion of slavery.

Option C,The acquisition of new territories created disputes over the expansion of slavery.

c

Nativist groups opposed incorporating new states into the Union.

Option D,Nativist groups opposed incorporating new states into the Union.

d

Answer 1

C

Clay's remarks focus on who gets to decide whether slavery exists in newly acquired territory (California) and emphasize the conflict between free and slave states over that decision, showing that acquiring new territory provoked disputes about slavery's expansion.