The acquisition of territory in the southwestern region intensified controversies in the United States about the expansion of slavery.
The acquisition of territory in the southwestern region intensified controversies in the United States about the expansion of slavery.
After the U.S. Senate approved the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the acquisition of new territory in the West brought up questions about whether slavery should be allowed in these areas. Southerners believed that slavery should be allowed in places like California and New Mexico, while Northerners disagreed.
This disagreement on the expansion of slavery ultimately led to increasing sectional tensions and played a significant role in the events leading up to the American Civil War.