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Mexican American War Dbq Essay

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LEQ #8 Following the Mexican-American War that occurred between 1846 and 1848, many issues arose. One major issue in question concerned the conflict of slavery between the states. With the United States acquiring nearly 525,000 square miles, the slave states saw this as an opportunity to acquire more territories and put the land to use via slaves. Those in the North felt they should not be slave states, as it would upset the balance of freed states and slave states. Overall, many things occurred during this time between the slavery controversy and its resistance, but one important event included the Ostend Manifesto. First, the Mexican-American War officially ended via the Treaty of Guadalupe. It was signed on February 2nd, 1848 by the chief …show more content…

The debate was led by Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster. Due to the potential unbalancing of the free states and slave states done by the Missouri Compromise, something had to be done. So, a series of 5 resolutions regarding the issue of slavery and the controversy between the North and South was proposed by Senator Henry Clay. Part of this Compromise amended the Fugitive Slave Law. This bill, also known as the Bloodhound Bill, stated that those fleeing slaves could not testify on their behalf and were also denied a jury trial. This harshly extended to even Northerners. In case they attempted to aid the escaping slaves, the Northerners would acquire jail time and even be subject to fines. The South felt a gain from this. The Compromise also touched the subject of which states were to be free or not. California was then entered as a free state, which upset the balance. Next, came Texas, which were given $10 million for being in debt. The remaining territories’ side of slavery was left for them to …show more content…

Southern expansionists were overall not satisfied with the lands acquired from Mexico. Instead, they saw new possibilities from Latin America. They were most eager about Cuba, in the hopes of of acquiring it as well. So, President James K. Polk attempted to make a deal with Spain for the land. He offered $100 million to purchase Cuba. Since Spain lost most of their once glorious empire, they rejected the offer. Southerners then attempted to take the land by force, but proved as no competition to the Spanish. The next President, Franklin Pierce, decided to pick this plan back up. With a destination of Ostend, Belgium, he sent three American diplomats to negotiate with Spain to buy Cuba. Written in 1854, the Ostend Manifesto came about, and was simply a document stating that the U.S wanted to purchase Cuba. Although they tried doing this secretly, it was leaked to the United States press and those against slavery were angered. Because of this, President Pierce as forced to drop the plan and let it

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