Deck 17: Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy, 1841-1848

Question 1

The Aroostook War was  

A) a short-lived insurrection in British Canada.
B) a battle between Native Americans and settlers in northern Maine.
C) a full-scale war between Britain and the United States.
D) a small-scale clash between lumberjacks in Maine and Canada
E) a dispute over fishing rights between Britain and the United States.

Answer 1

a small-scale clash between lumberjacks in Maine and Canada

Question 2

Texas was annexed to the United States as a result of  

A) two-thirds Senate approval of the Treaty of Annexation.
B) a joint resolution enacted by a simple majority in the House and the Senate rather than the two-thirds constitutional supermajority required of all treaties with foreign nations.
C) a presidential executive order by President Tyler.
D) the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
E) a political compromise to admit free-state Iowa at the same time.

Answer 2

a joint resolution enacted by a simple majority in the House and the Senate rather than the two-thirds constitutional supermajority required of all treaties with foreign nations.

Question 3

In the Oregon treaty with Britain in 1846, the northern boundary of the United States was established to the Pacific Ocean along the line of  

A) 42°.
B) 52° 40'.
C) 54° 40'.
D) 36° 30'.
E) 49°.

Answer 3

49°.

Question 4

Most Americans who migrated to the Oregon Country were attracted by the  

A) rich soil of the Willamette River Valley.
B) expectation of fighting British troops.
C) potential profits in the fur trade.
D) discovery of gold and silver in the Cascade Mountains.
E) None of these choices are correct.

Question 5

In the 1840s, the view that God had ordained the growth of an American nation stretching across North America was called  

A) continentalism.
B) isolationism.
C) American Super Imperialism.
D) Divine Mandate.
E) Manifest Destiny.

Question 6

The area in dispute between the United States and Great Britain in 1845 lay between the  

A) forty-second parallel and the Columbia River.
B) Cascade Mountains, the Columbia River, and Puget Sound.
C) 36° 30' line and the Columbia River.
D) forty-ninth parallel and the 54° 40' line.
E) Columbia River, the forty-ninth parallel, and the Pacific Ocean.

Question 7

As a result of the panic of 1837  

A) the U. S. established restrictions on foreign loans.
B) President John Tyler reversed his opposition to a national bank and signed legislation authorizing a "Fiscal Corporation."
C) anti-British passions cooled in America.
D) the Democrats led America into war for more territory.
E) several states defaulted on their bonds or repudiated them openly.

Question 8

____ represented the group in North America that expressed the most vigorous support for the United States gaining political control of all of the Oregon Country.  

A) Southern Democrats
B) Whigs
C) Northern Democrats
D) Indians living in the Willamette River valley
E) Protestant missionaries

Question 9

All of the following were reasons why Britain was intensely interested in promoting an independent Republic of Texas except  

A) such a republic would check the southward surge of the American colossus, who posed a threat to nearby British possessions in the New World.
B) clashes between the independent Republic of Texas and America might create a diversionary opportunity for foreign powers to challenge American supremacy in Latin America and undermine the dormant Monroe Doctrine.
C) British merchants believed that an independent Texas could be an important free-trade area to offset the tariff-walled United States.
D) Texas could become a location for the settlement of undesirable British emigrants.
E) an independent Republic of Texas could provide British abolitionists with the opportunity to free slaves in Texas and stir rebellions by other slaves throughout the South.

Question 10

All of the following happened after President John Tyler's veto of a bill to establish a new Bank of the United States except  

A) he was expelled from the Whig party.
B) all but one member of his cabinet resigned.
C) an attempt was made in the House of Representatives to impeach him.
D) Tyler also vetoed a Whig-sponsored high-tariff bill.
E) he signed another similar national bank bill providing for a "Fiscal Corporation."

Question 11

Arrange the following in chronological order:
(A)annexation of Texas,
(B)Webster-Ashburton Treaty,
(C)settlement of the Oregon boundary, and
(D)Aroostook War.  

A) A, B, D, C
B) B, D, C, A
C) D, B, A, C
D) C, A, B, D
E) A, D, C, B

Question 12

Relations between Britain and the United States in the 1830s and 1840s could be characterized as  

A) harmonious at the diplomatic level but full of popular resentments on both sides.
B) complicated by the reentry of France as an imperial power with designs on territories in the American West.
C) marked by growing American economic supremacy.
D) constantly on the brink of war.
E) generally tense, with periods of both violence and peaceful resolution.

Question 13

The primary reason that the British government decided to compromise with the United States on the Oregon Country border was  

A) the support of the Hudson's Bay Company.
B) the British government's belief that the Oregon Country was neither politically nor economically critical to British foreign policy interests.
C) John Tyler's election to the presidency.
D) America's acceptance of 54° 40'.
E) the threat posed to British Columbia by an alliance of Indians and French traders and pioneers.

Question 14

Arrange in chronological order the United States' acquisition of
(A)Oregon,
(B)Texas, and
(C)California.  

A) A, B, C
B) C, B, A
C) B, A, C
D) B, C, A
E) A, C, B

Question 15

During an 1837 Canadian rebellion against Britain  

A) the United States stayed neutral in word and action.
B) the United States imprisoned several American violators of neutrality.
C) America was unlawfully invaded by the British.
D) Canada warned the United States to stay out of the conflict.
E) the U.S. government plotted to annex Canada.

Question 16

The election of 1844 was notable because  

A) the campaign raised no real issues.
B) a genuine and clear mandate emerged.
C) it was fought over the issue of expansionism.
D) James K. Polk won the electoral vote but lost the popular vote.
E) Henry Clay won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote.

Question 17

In the presidential election of 1844, the Whig candidate, Henry Clay  

A) opposed the annexation of Texas.
B) called for immediate annexation of Texas.
C) alienated both proponents and opponents of annexing Texas by issuing seemingly contradictory written statements about his view on annexing Texas.
D) ignored the issue of the annexation of Texas.
E) favored dividing Texas into several states.

Question 18

The earliest known use of the term Manifest Destiny was in 1845 by  

A) John Tyler.
B) James K. Polk.
C) Ralph Waldo Emerson.
D) John L. O'Sullivan.
E) Mark Twain.

Question 19

The nomination of James K.Polk as the Democrats' 1844 presidential candidate was secured by  

A) southern expansionists.
B) anti-Texas southerners.
C) Henry Clay.
D) eastern business interests.
E) radical abolitionists.

Question 20

The only member of President Tyler's Whig cabinet who did not resign in protest over his policies was  

A) Henry Clay.
B) Zachary Taylor.
C) Robert Walker.
D) Daniel Webster.
E) Millard Fillmore.

Question 21

When the Mexican government secularized authority in California  

A) missionaries gained power.
B) slavery became an accepted practice.
C) convicts brought in by Spain were expelled.
D) California's Indians received better treatment.
E) Californios eventually gained control of the land from the Franciscan missions.

Question 22

Which of these is NOT a true statement about the Californios?  

A) They were descendants of the Spanish and Mexican conquerors who had once ruled California.
B) In terms of social and political status, they deferred to the very powerful Franciscan missionaries until Mexico overthrew Spanish rule in 1821.
C) The political and economic power and social status of the Californios received a major boost when Mexico's "secularization" program eroded the substantial power of the Franciscan missions and their leading priests.
D) The Californios saw their social status and economic and political power significantly eroded following the American victory in the Mexican War.
E) The Californios found themselves consistently at the lowest rungs of California society, even below the Indians, during the early to mid-1800s.

Question 23

The Spanish Franciscan missionaries treated the Indian inhabitants of California  

A) according to the strict moral principles of their founder St. Francis.
B) fairly respectfully with the exception of refusing to convert them to Christianity because of their "heathen status."
C) extremely harshly, as Indian inhabitants of California were required to toil endlessly as poor farmers and herders and often came down with serious, deadly diseases.
D) much better than they treated their African slaves.
E) as cultural and intellectual equals.

Question 24

One goal of Mexico in its 1846-1848 war with the United States was to  

A) demonstrate the strength of Latino culture.
B) regain sovereignty over Texas and humiliate the hatedyanquis.
C) capture slaves and take them back to Mexico.
D) force America to make good on unpaid claims of damages to Mexican citizens.
E) liberate Indians living in the Indian Territory where members of the Five Civilized Tribes had been forced to relocate by the U.S. government.

Question 25

In 1846, the United States went to war with Mexico for all of the following reasons except  

A) the ideology of Manifest Destiny.
B) moral indignation expressed by southwestern American expansionists following the deaths of American soldiers at the hands of Mexican crossing the Rio Grande in April 1846.
C) the desire to gain payment for unpaid damage tort claims by American citizens against the Mexican government for damages to Americans and their property in the Southwest.
D) the impulse to satisfy Congressman Abraham Lincoln and similar political allies in Congress to enact the so-called "spot resolutions" concerning alleged Mexican incursions into American territory.
E) Polk's desire to acquire California.

Question 26

The Californios' political ascendancy in California ended  

A) with the arrival of Franciscan friars.
B) as a result of the influx of Anglo gold-diggers and the waning of the pastoral economy.
C) when Mexico gained control of the area in 1826.
D) when agriculture became more profitable than mining.
E) when the U.S. government made English mandatory.

Question 27

Which of the following represents an accurate description of the response by Americans generally or a subsection of Americans to the Oregon settlement with Great Britain?  

A) Unanimous approval of the arrangement with Britain at setting the northern border of the Oregon Country at 49 degrees.
B) Anger by nearly all Americans at Senate delays in approving the pact with Britain.
C) Northwestern states joined with antislavery forces in the North to condemn the pact.
D) Widespread fear by Americans that Great Britain would renege on the agreement and declare war to claim the rest of the territory.
E) Southern satisfaction that the legality of slavery in the Oregon Territory was now protected by the treaty.

Question 28

All of the following were legacies of the U.S.war with Mexico, except  

A) Mexicans have never forgotten that the U.S. tore away about half of their country.
B) the war resulted in a negative turning point in U.S. relations with Latin America.
C) it reinvigorated the slavery issue and debates about extending slavery in the territories and newly admitted states in the United States.
D) Latin America solidified their friendly relations with the U.S. government.
E) roughly 13,000 American soldiers died, mostly from disease.

Question 29

The Wilmot Proviso  

A) symbolized the burning issue of slavery in the territories.
B) gained House and Senate approval in 1846.
C) settled, once and for all, the issue of slavery in California.
D) allowed slavery in the territory taken from Mexico in 1848.
E) left open the issue of slavery in New Mexico and Utah.

Question 30

When the war with Mexico began, President James K.Polk  

A) advocated taking all of Mexico.
B) believed the British would intervene on behalf of the Americans.
C) hoped to fight a limited war, ending with the conquest of California.
D) supported a large-scale conflict.
E) denied any intention of expanding slavery.

Question 31

The largest single addition to American territory was  

A) the Louisiana Purchase.
B) the Mexican Cession.
C) the Oregon Country.
D) the Old Northwest.
E) Alaska.

Question 32

In his quest for California, President James K.Polk  

A) advocated war with Mexico from the beginning.
B) argued strongly for annexation, because Americans were the most numerous people in the area.
C) was motivated by his knowledge of gold deposits there.
D) sought British help to persuade Mexico to sell the area to the United States.
E) first advocated buying the area from Mexico.

Question 33

President Polk's claim that "American blood [had been shed] on the American soil" referred to news of an armed clash between Mexican and American troops near  

A) San Francisco.
B) the Nueces River.
C) Santa Fe.
D) the Rio Grande.
E) San Antonio.

Question 34

The first Old World Europeans to come to California were  

A) Russians.
B) French.
C) Dutch.
D) English.
E) Spanish.

Question 35

During the debate in Congress over President Polk's requested congressional declaration of war against Mexico, the Polk administration was frequently called on by ____ to respond to "spot resolutions", demanding to know where American blood had been shed to provoke the war.  

A) Abraham Lincoln
B) Henry Clay
C) Thomas Hart Benton
D) Stephen Kearney
E) Lewis Cass

Question 36

Arrange the following in chronological order: (A)Bear Flag revolt,
(B)Slidell mission rejected,
(C)declaration of war on Mexico, and
(D)American troops ordered to the Rio Grande Valley.  

A) B, D, C, A
B) A, C, B, D
C) D, B, A, C
D) C, A, D, B
E) A, D, C, B

Question 37

The Wilmot Proviso, introduced into Congress during the Mexican War, declared that  

A) Mexican territory would not be annexed to the United States.
B) slavery would be banned from all territories that Mexico ceded to the United States.
C) the United States should annex all of Mexico.
D) the United States should have to pay Mexico a financial indemnity for having provoked the war.
E) slavery in the territories would be determined by popular sovereignty.

Question 38

The terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848), ending the Mexican War, included  

A) a guarantee of the rights of Mexicans living in New Mexico.
B) United States annexation of all the territory south of the Rio Grande.
C) the banning of slavery from all territory ceded to the United States.
D) a requirement that Mexico pay $3.25 million in damages to the United States.
E) United States payment of $15 million for the cession of northern Mexico.

Question 39

When northwesterners questioned why all of Texas was annexed but not all of Oregon, Oregon settlement supporters such as Sen.Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri responded that  

A) Oregon was far more expensive than Texas to defend.
B) Oregon land waslessdesirable than that of Texas.
C) Polk and his supporters in the Senate were far more interested in Texas as a bulwark for slavery.
D) Great Britain was a far more powerful nation than Mexico.
E) None of these choices are correct.

Question 40

Those people most adamantly opposed to President James K.Polk's expansionist program in Oregon, Texas and the Southwest were the  

A) northwestern Democrats.
B) abolitionists.
C) southern Democrats.
D) generals in the U.S. Army such as General Zachary Taylor.
E) proslavery Whigs.

Question 41

Britain was interested in developments in the Republic of Texas because  

A) an independent Texas was a potential counterweight to the future growth of a powerful United States.
B) Texas would be an important alternative source of cotton for the British textile industry.
C) Texas threatened British influence in Central America and northern South America.
D) British abolitionists were pleased that the Republic of Texas had outlawed slavery.
E) the British navy wanted bases at Galveston and Corpus Christi.

Question 42

Was there any validity to the charge that the Texas annexation and Mexican War were attempts to expand slavery? Why or why not? What were the political implications for the national debates on the abolition and the expansion of slavery in the United States and its territories following the annexation of Texas and after the American acquisition of the enormous area of land stretching westward from Texas to California and northward to Oregon as a result of the Mexican War?

Question 43

Given the great enthusiasm for territorial expansion and the lure and pull of Manifest Destiny, why did the "all of Mexico" movement fail to win political assent in Congress or from even President Polk, a staunch advocate of both territorial expansion and Manifest Destiny?

Question 44

President Polk's program in his first term in office included  

A) securing lower tariffs.
B) a new independent treasury system.
C) acquisition of California.
D) settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute.
E) restricting the expansion of slavery in western territories.

Question 45

Write your definition of national interest.Then use this definition to argue that the Webster-Ashburton Treaty or the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo did or did not serve the national interests of the United States.

Question 46

Compare and contrast President Polk's willingness to go to war against Mexico over Texas but not against Britain over Oregon.

Question 47

President John Tyler vetoed the Whig congress's proposal to  

A) end the independent treasury system.
B) create a new national bank.
C) distribute public land sales revenue to the states.
D) annex Texas.
E) solve the Maine boundary dispute.

Question 48

Assess the validity of the following two statements: "President James K.Polk was one of America's near-great presidents" and "President James K.Polk was a reckless, disingenuous imperialist whose foreign policies and pursuit of the Mexican War violated some the most fundamental egalitarian and republican principles contained in America's Declaration of Independence." Which statement most accurately captures the political legacy of President James K.Polk? Defend your argument with specific examples drawn from the key political events and debates of President Polk's presidency.

Question 49

To what extent was the Mexican War an avoidable and unnecessary war? Alternatively, how might the Mexican War be considered an inevitable war between America and Mexico that could not be avoided even if President Polk and the various Mexican governments had engaged in some difficult political bargaining and compromises during the mid-1840s? What diplomatic, military, and economic steps could President Polk and the Mexican government have taken to avoid war and why didn't they respectively or jointly do so?

Question 50

Assess the validity of the following statement, "The Mexican War was a major cause of the American Civil War."

Question 51

The Mexican War resulted in  

A) a one-third increase in the territorial size of the United States.
B) combat experience for those who would lead the armies in the Civil War.
C) increased respect for American military and naval capabilities.
D) friendlier relations between the United States and Latin American nations.
E) deepened sectional tensions over slavery.

Question 52

Write your definition of imperialism.Then use this definition to argue that the United States was or was not an imperialistic nation in the 1840s.

Question 53

Points of controversy between the United States and Mexico in 1845-1846 included  

A) damage claims by American citizens against the Mexican government.
B) the immigration of Mormons into Mexican territory.
C) exclusion of Mexico from the Oregon boundary settlement.
D) the refusal of the Mexican government to receive President Polk's envoy, John Slidell, and consider President Polk's offer to purchase California from Mexico.
E) American annexation of Texas.

Question 54

List the following items in order of their importance as contributors to American expansion to the Pacific: land hunger, trade opportunities, suspicion of British intentions, and Manifest Destiny.Justify your ranking and explain how each item contributed to American territorial expansion to the Pacific.

Question 55

Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836.Why wasn't it annexed to the United States until 1845?

Question 56

List the following items in order of their importance as factors in the outbreak of war between the United States and Mexico: the failure of the Slidell diplomatic mission to Mexico, the positioning of General Taylor's troops on the Rio Grande, unresolved debt claims of American citizens, Manifest Destiny, and President Polk's quest for California.Justify your ranking and explain how each item contributed to the outbreak of war.