Asked by Sadie
How did manifest destiny contribute to the start of the civil war?
1) It led to conflict over gold mining rights
2) It raised the question of whether new territories should allow slavery
3) it caused a disagreement over railroad routes
4) it led to a trade war with mexico
All Answers 1
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Correct answer: 2) It raised the question of whether new territories should allow slavery.
Why: Manifest Destiny drove U.S. expansion west (Louisiana Purchase follow-ups, Texas, Oregon, Mexican Cession after the Mexican–American War, California Gold Rush), which forced the nation to decide whether slavery would be permitted in the new territories and future states. Those disputes produced recurring crises and laws (Wilmot Proviso proposals, Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Act, Kansas–Nebraska Act, “Bleeding Kansas,” Dred Scott decision) that deepened North–South sectionalism and helped bring about the Civil War.
Notes on the other choices:
- 1) Gold mining caused fast population shifts (California statehood), but the central national crisis was over slavery in those new areas, not mining rights per se.
- 3) Rail route disputes mattered politically and economically, but they were not the main cause of the Civil War.
- 4) The war with Mexico (1846–48) was a military conflict over territory, not a trade war; its territorial results intensified the slavery question (see above).
Why: Manifest Destiny drove U.S. expansion west (Louisiana Purchase follow-ups, Texas, Oregon, Mexican Cession after the Mexican–American War, California Gold Rush), which forced the nation to decide whether slavery would be permitted in the new territories and future states. Those disputes produced recurring crises and laws (Wilmot Proviso proposals, Compromise of 1850, Fugitive Slave Act, Kansas–Nebraska Act, “Bleeding Kansas,” Dred Scott decision) that deepened North–South sectionalism and helped bring about the Civil War.
Notes on the other choices:
- 1) Gold mining caused fast population shifts (California statehood), but the central national crisis was over slavery in those new areas, not mining rights per se.
- 3) Rail route disputes mattered politically and economically, but they were not the main cause of the Civil War.
- 4) The war with Mexico (1846–48) was a military conflict over territory, not a trade war; its territorial results intensified the slavery question (see above).
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