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Difficulty: MediumManifest Destiny and Westward Expansion

"We have never dreamt of incorporating into our Union any but the Caucasian race—the free white race. To incorporate Mexico, would be the very first instance of the kind, of incorporating an Indian race; for more than half of the Mexicans are Indians, and the other is composed chiefly of mixed tribes. I protest against such a union as that! Ours, sir, is the Government of a white race. The greatest misfortunes of Spanish America are to be traced to the fatal error of placing these colored races on an equality with the white race. That error destroyed the social relation which among them has been dissolved, and left them in this state of anarchy."

— Senator John C. Calhoun, Speech in Congress, 1848

Which of the following historical debates from the mid-nineteenth century is most directly reflected in the views expressed by Calhoun in the excerpt?

  1. A
    The attempt to resolve territorial disputes by applying popular sovereignty to let local residents determine their own citizenship status.
  2. The tension between the impulse for territorial expansion and racial ideologies that defined American citizenship in exclusive terms.Answer
  3. C
    The development of federal policies to assimilate Native Americans through individual land allotments.
  4. D
    The deployment of the Monroe Doctrine to justify military intervention and colonization in Spanish America.

Answer

The tension between the impulse for territorial expansion and racial ideologies that defined American citizenship in exclusive terms.
The correct answer correctly identifies how Calhoun's opposition to annexing all of Mexico highlights the tension between the desire to expand the nation's borders and the racial ideologies of white supremacy that sought to keep American political institutions exclusively white. This illustrates that Manifest Destiny was not a monolithic, unopposed movement but was actively debated and limited by contemporary racial attitudes.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the source text to identify the author's primary argument and historical context.
John C. Calhoun argues against the full annexation of Mexican territory in 1848 on the grounds that the United States government is reserved exclusively for the white race, and that incorporating non-white populations would lead to political and social instability.
Understanding the core argument is necessary to connect the source to broader historical concepts.
2
Connect Calhoun's argument to the ideology and debates surrounding Manifest Destiny and westward expansion.
While Manifest Destiny championed territorial expansion, Calhoun's speech demonstrates that this push was deeply intertwined with contemporary racial hierarchies. Many expansionists and politicians debated how far the nation should expand based on whether they wanted to incorporate non-white populations into the American republic.
This establishes the relationship between the specific document and the historical themes of Period 5.
3
Evaluate the choices to find the one that accurately describes this historical tension and eliminate the distractors.
The correct option identifies the conflict between the desire for territorial acquisition and exclusive racial definitions of citizenship, while the other choices rely on chronological errors or conceptual misunderstandings of contemporary doctrines.
This confirms the correct option while validating the errors in the distractors.

Key Concept

The intersection of Manifest Destiny ideology with mid-nineteenth-century racial theories and citizenship debates.
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Topics

Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion

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