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Mexican American War

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Mexican American War
1. How did American life during the period of the Age of the Common Man reflect both the influence of the frontier and the impact of newer rationalistic concepts? (Think inventions, religion, peace, prosperity, literature, art, education, etc)

2. Briefly define (no more than 1 paragraph each, some are a sentence or two):
-The Mexican American War: The Mexican-American war was a fight for lad between the Untied States and Mexico where the United States defeated Mexico and gained over five hundred thousand miles of land. The land in known as the Southwest and makes up a vast majority of the United States. A major contributor to the war was the American belief of Manifest Destiny and showed how the United States wanted to extend their borders to the Pacific. The acquirement of the land did open up much room for American settlement, but it also worsened the conflict between the North and South on whether or not the new territory would be slave of free. Not able to agree on this problem the two sides declared war on each other and it ultimately brought upon the Civil War of 1861. (http://dig.lib.niu.edu/mexicanwar/overview.html)
-The Wilmot Proviso: This was a provision not allowing slavery in the territory that the United States gained in the MExican American War. The provision was proposed by a representative from Pennsylvania named David Wilmot in 1846. Congress denied the proviso and in result never went into effect.(www.ohiohistorycentral.org)
-The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: With the end of the Mexican American war came the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The document was signed on February 2, 1848 in the town of Guadalupe Hidalgo. (www.archives.gov)
-Compromise of 1850: The compromise was composed of five different laws to deal with slavery issues. This document was proposed by Henry Clay in order to resolve the issue of California entering the Union as a free state. The Fugitive Slave Act was amended and slave trade in Washington D.C was banned. Then a

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