How the United States grew to the Pacific: Texas, Oregon, the Mexican Cession and the Gadsden Purchase

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Borders and the people on them, 1848 to 1854 (cards A to E). Card A, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848 (Avalon Project text): Article V described part of the boundary using a map published in New York in 1847 by J. Disturnell, and ended: "The boundary line established by this article shall be religiously respected by each of the two republics, and no change shall ever be made therein, except by the express and free consent of both nations, lawfully given by the General Government of each, in conformity with its own constitution." The treaty was signed on February 2, 1848. Article XI said that Native nations living in the ceded lands "will hereafter be under the exclusive control of the Government of the United States" and promised that the United States would restrain, by force if needed, raids from them into Mexico. Card B, the treaty of December 30, 1853 (the Gadsden Purchase), signed at Mexico City by U.S. envoy James Gadsden and Mexican officials and proclaimed by President Pierce on June 30, 1854 (Avalon Project text): its preamble speaks of "opposite interpretations" of the 1848 treaty, "which might give occasion to questions of serious moment". The United States agreed to pay Mexico $10 million, $7 million on exchange of ratifications and $3 million once the new boundary was surveyed and marked. Card C, a summary in our words of other articles of the 1853 treaty: Article II released the United States from its duties under Article XI of the 1848 treaty. Article V applied the 1848 articles on the rights of persons and property to the newly ceded land. Article VI said land grants made in that land after September 25 (the day the U.S. envoy proposed settling the boundary question) would not be recognized, and earlier grants would be respected only if recorded in Mexico's archives. Card D, a summary in our words from the Tohono O'odham Nation's own history page: the Nation says that in 1853, through the Gadsden Purchase or Treaty of La Mesilla, O'odham land was divided almost in half, and that this division of land has divided O'odham society. Card E, a summary in our words from the National Archives: the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the 1853 Gadsden Purchase created the southern border of the present-day United States.

2. 1.

   A student writes: "The 1853 treaty only changed the boundary." How strong is that claim, given cards B and C, Luz asks?

   • Strong: card B says the treaty dealt with the boundary, so nothing else was changed
   • Strong: card C says the earlier articles were cancelled, so the boundary alone mattered
   • Weak: card C shows other terms, such as a release from Article XI and land-grant limits
   • Weak: card C is just a summary, so it cannot be used as evidence of the terms
3. 2.

   Which chain from cards A to C best explains why a second boundary treaty was made, Tala asks?

   • The Civil War began, so the border was renegotiated by both nations in the 1850s
   • The 1848 treaty fixed no line, so a new line was needed in 1853 to mark one
   • An 1847 map helped fix the 1848 line; readings differed; a new line was agreed
   • A new treaty came first, and then opposite readings of the 1848 line appeared later
4. 3.

   Card B splits the $10 million into $7 million and $3 million, the second after the survey. What share was tied to the survey, Jun asks?

   • 70 percent, which is the share paid at ratification, before the line was surveyed
   • About 43 percent, since 3 is compared with 7 instead of with the whole $10 million
   • It shows nothing, since payments are often split in two parts in a treaty like this
   • 30 percent, so part of the money depended on the line being surveyed and marked
5. 4.

   The 1848 treaty was signed February 2, 1848 and the new one December 30, 1853. About how many years apart, Pia asks?

   • Under a year, since the 1853 treaty just confirmed 1848
   • About 4 years, since 1853 minus 1848 is 4
   • About 6 months
   • Just under 6 years
6. 5.

   How does card D's account of 1853 differ from the treaty cards, Bo asks?

   • The Nation's account shows O'odham leaders signed the treaty with both governments
   • The Nation describes the payment, and the treaty cards describe daily community life
   • The treaty cards say O'odham land was left whole, and the Nation's account agrees
   • The treaty cards give two governments' rules; the Nation describes a divided land
7. 6.

   Card D is the Tohono O'odham Nation's own history page. What is it best evidence for, Milo asks?

   • How the Mexican government felt about the sale of land to the United States
   • How much the United States paid for the land and in how many installments
   • How the Nation itself describes the effect of the border on its land and people
   • What the treaty negotiators intended in 1853 when they drew the new border line
8. 7.

   A student says: "The treaties protected the rights of everyone living in the borderlands." How strong is that, given cards B to D, Zee asks?

   • Strong: card C says rights articles were applied to the new land, so people were protected
   • Weak: card D is the Nation's view, so it cannot be used as evidence about the treaties
   • Weak: card C extends rights to some, but card D says the border divided the Nation's land
   • Strong: card D says the treaty kept O'odham land whole and protected the people on it
9. 8.

   Card A's Article XI and card C's Article II are five years apart. What changed, Kira asks?

   • By 1848 the duty had already been dropped, so the 1853 treaty changed nothing about it
   • In 1853 the United States promised to restrain even more raids into Mexico than before
   • In 1848 the United States took on a duty to restrain raids; in 1853 Mexico released it
   • In 1848 Mexico took the duty to restrain raids, and in 1853 the United States released it
10. 9.

    Which new evidence would best test whether Native nations had a say in the 1848 and 1853 border decisions, Ren asks?

    • Records of both negotiations and statements by Native leaders from 1848 to 1854
    • A modern summary of both treaties and what they changed, written for students
    • A report from the 1900s about border crossings and the people who make them
    • A new map of the modern border, showing the towns, roads and rivers near it
11. 10.

    Card E says the two treaties created today's southern border. Together with card D, what is best supported, Esme asks?

    • Each Native nation along the border is divided in the same way by the line in card E
    • Decisions made between two governments still shape life for a Native nation today
    • The border no longer matters to the O'odham, since it divided their land long ago
    • Native nations decided where the line went, working alongside the two governments