Connection #3 highlights the interrelated nature of several key events and figures in the mid-19th century American history, particularly regarding the expansion of the United States and the contentious issue of slavery. James K. Polk, who served as president from 1845 to 1849, was a strong proponent of Manifest Destiny, which drove the nation to expand westward, ultimately leading to the Mexican War (1846-1848). The outcome of the war resulted in significant territorial gains for the U.S., but it also intensified the debate over whether these new lands should be free or slave states.
This tension paved the way for the Compromise of 1850, which attempted to address the status of territories acquired from Mexico; it admitted California as a free state while allowing for the possibility of slavery in New Mexico and Utah. However, the tensions surrounding the extension of slavery were not resolved, leading to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which implemented the principle of popular sovereignty allowing settlers in those territories to determine their own status regarding slavery. Together, these events and concepts illustrate a cause-and-effect relationship where the quest for territorial expansion fueled conflict over slavery, highlighting the broader themes of American expansionism and sectionalism that ultimately contributed to the Civil War.
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