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    American Voices - Questions For Analysis

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    Naydeline Rodriguez
    This document discusses primary sources related to the Mexican-American War and the expansion of slavery. It provides arguments from Buchanan and Sumner about the boundary between Texas and Mexico that sparked the war, with Sumner's argument seen as more persuasive. It also examines how assertions from O'Sullivan and Buchanan supported the view of the war as imperialistic. Additionally, it outlines Whitman's opposition to the expansion of slavery and who he may have voted for in the 1848 election based on his views. Finally, it considers how the nature of the sources - newspaper editorials versus letters between officials - influenced their respective contents.

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    American Voices - Questions For Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Naydeline Rodriguez
    261 views2 pages
    This document discusses primary sources related to the Mexican-American War and the expansion of slavery. It provides arguments from Buchanan and Sumner about the boundary between Texas and Mexico that sparked the war, with Sumner's argument seen as more persuasive. It also examines how assertions from O'Sullivan and Buchanan supported the view of the war as imperialistic. Additionally, it outlines Whitman's opposition to the expansion of slavery and who he may have voted for in the 1848 election based on his views. Finally, it considers how the nature of the sources - newspaper editorials versus letters between officials - influenced their respective contents.

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    Mexican American War: Expansion and Slavery

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    Copy of American Voices- Questions for Analysis

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    This document discusses primary sources related to the Mexican-American War and the expansion of slavery. It provides arguments from Buchanan and Sumner about the boundary between Texas and Mexico that sparked the war, with Sumner's argument seen as more persuasive. It also examines how assertions from O'Sullivan and Buchanan supported the view of the war as imperialistic. Additionally, it outlines Whitman's opposition to the expansion of slavery and who he may have voted for in the 1848 election based on his views. Finally, it considers how the nature of the sources - newspaper editorials versus letters between officials - influenced their respective contents.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    261 views2 pages

    American Voices - Questions For Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Naydeline Rodriguez
    This document discusses primary sources related to the Mexican-American War and the expansion of slavery. It provides arguments from Buchanan and Sumner about the boundary between Texas and Mexico that sparked the war, with Sumner's argument seen as more persuasive. It also examines how assertions from O'Sullivan and Buchanan supported the view of the war as imperialistic. Additionally, it outlines Whitman's opposition to the expansion of slavery and who he may have voted for in the 1848 election based on his views. Finally, it considers how the nature of the sources - newspaper editorials versus letters between officials - influenced their respective contents.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    American Voices- Questions for Analysis

    Mexican American War: Expansion and Slavery

    Directions: As a class we will read the primary sources on pages 422-423 in your textbook. In the
    end, please answer the questions below using complete sentences and answering all parts of the
    questions. Be specific in your responses. Please change your responses to either blue or red.

    1) What arguments do Buchanan and Sumner make about the boundaries of Texas, the issue
    that sparked the fighting? Whose argument is more persuasive and why?
    ● James Buchanan urges John Slidell to speak of Texas' independence as fact. He argues that the
    western border of Texas is the Rio Grande. Buchanan claims this boundary because "the
    jurisdiction of Texas has been extended beyond that river." Charles Sumner argues that the
    "State of Texas, since its Declaration of Independence, never exercised any jurisdiction
    beyond the Nueces." He also argues that if they viewed Texas as a province of Mexico, the
    Nueces would recognize Mexico as the western boundary. Sumner's argument is more
    persuasive because he used the historic geographic boundaries as evidence. He also makes a
    strong case for America being the aggressor by taking the disputed region from a neighboring
    Republic.

    2) Do o’Sullivans and Buchanana’s assertions support or undercut the claim that the Mexican
    War was an aggressive act of imperialism?
    ● Both O'Sullivan and Buchanan's assertions unintentionally support the claim that the Mexican
    War was an aggressive act of imperialism. O'Sullivan uses the argument of Manifest Destiny,
    "the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for
    the free development of our yearly multiplying millions," as justification. Buchanan also
    regards the territory as belonging to the U.S. They both bring up that Britain, France, and the
    U.S. all had an interest in the region, especially California, with little regard from the people
    already occupying the land.

    3) Why does Whitman oppose the expansion of slavery? Given Whitman;s views, who might have
    gotten his vote in the election of 1848? Why?
    ● Whitman opposed the expansion of slavery because slavery benefitted only the rich while
    hurting the "white workingmen, the millions of merchants, farmers, and operatives of our
    country." He argues, using the experiences of the South, that respectable workingmen cannot
    flourish in a slave state. Whitman believed that slavery, in "practice and theory," was
    destructive to the dignity and independence of all laborers and to "labor itself." Given his
    views in "favor of limiting slavery to where it already exists," Whitman may have voted for
    Zachary Taylor, a Louisiana slave owner committed to defending slavery but did not support
    the expansion of slavery in the territories. He may have been attracted to the Free-Soil Party
    and voted for Martin Van Buren, who opposed any expansion of slavery.

    4) Two of the sources are newspaper editorials; two are letters written by or addressed to public
    officials. How does the nature of each of these sources influence its content?
    ● The two newspaper editorials are opinion pieces meant to move the public. Their authors
    were freer to discuss the subject at hand. The two letters to public officials are more
    fact-based and serious because they deal with official government business.

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