Westward Expansion — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Which event added the most land to the United States before the Mexican-American War?
A) The Gadsden Purchase
B) The Louisiana Purchase
C) The annexation of Texas
D) The Oregon Treaty
The correct answer is B) The Louisiana Purchase. Which event added the most land to the United States before the Mexican-American War — the answer is The Louisiana Purchase.
2. What did the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo accomplish?
A) It ended the War of 1812
B) It gave the U.S. the Oregon Territory
C) It ended the Mexican-American War and gave the U.S. the Mexican Cession
D) It purchased Alaska from Russia
The correct answer is C) It ended the Mexican-American War and gave the U.S. the Mexican Cession. What did the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo accomplish — the answer is It ended the Mexican-American War and gave the U.S. the Mexican Cession.
3. Why did the concept of Manifest Destiny appeal to many Americans in the 1800s?
A) They wanted to return land to European nations
B) They believed expansion was their God-given right and destiny
C) They hoped to shrink the size of the country
D) They wanted to move the capital to California
The correct answer is B) They believed expansion was their God-given right and destiny. Why did the concept of Manifest Destiny appeal to many Americans in the 1800s — the answer is They believed expansion was their God-given right and destiny.
4. Which agreement set the northern border of the Oregon Territory at the 49th parallel?
A) The Adams-Onis Treaty
B) The Missouri Compromise
C) The Oregon Treaty of 1846
D) The Gadsden Purchase
The correct answer is C) The Oregon Treaty of 1846. Which agreement set the northern border of the Oregon Territory at the 49th parallel — the answer is The Oregon Treaty of 1846.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. The Mexican Cession was the land gained by the U.S. after the war with Mexico.
The answer is "Cession." The Mexican Cession refers to the vast territory Mexico gave up under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, including present-day California, Nevada, and Utah.
2. James K. Polk was the president who led the nation during the Mexican-American War.
The answer is "Polk." President James K. Polk strongly supported westward expansion and led the country into the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), which added a huge amount of western land.
3. The slogan Fifty-Four Forty or Fight referred to the desired northern border of Oregon.
The answer is "Fight." "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight" was a popular slogan demanding the U.S. claim all of Oregon Territory up to the latitude line 54 degrees 40 minutes, even if it meant war with Britain.
4. The United States and Britain both claimed the Oregon Territory before 1846.
The answer is "Britain." Both the U.S. and Britain claimed the Oregon Territory for decades until the Oregon Treaty of 1846 set the border at the 49th parallel.
5. Texas was an independent republic for nearly ten years before joining the United States.
The answer is "republic." After winning independence from Mexico in 1836, Texas governed itself as the Republic of Texas for about nine years before being annexed as a U.S. state in 1845.