The Wilmot Proviso was a failed attempt to ban slavery in territories acquired from Mexico, intensifying the sectional conflict between the North and the South in the United States.
The Missouri Compromise (1820) Explained
The Missouri Compromise was a legislative agreement that temporarily resolved the issue of slavery expansion in the United States by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) Explained
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War and ceded a large portion of Mexico’s territory to the United States.
Manifest Destiny Explained
Manifest Destiny was the belief that it was the destiny of the United States to expand its territory across North America.
The Monroe Doctrine (1823) Explained
The Monroe Doctrine was a US foreign policy that declared the Western Hemisphere off-limits to European colonization and intervention.
Louisiana Purchase (1803) Explained
The Louisiana Purchase was a land deal between the United States and France in which the U.S. acquired approximately 828,000 square miles of territory west of the Mississippi River for $15 million.