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

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   The treaty of 1848 and the people in the new lands (cards A to E). Card A, the Constitution, Article II, Section 2, as transcribed by the National Archives (cuts marked): "He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; …" Card B, a summary in our words from the National Archives: the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on February 2, 1848, at a city where the Mexican government had fled as U.S. forces advanced. After the fall of Mexico City in September 1847, the U.S. envoy Nicholas Trist and General Winfield Scott decided that the only way to deal with Mexico was as a conquered enemy. Mexico ceded 55 percent of its territory, including present-day California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Wyoming. It gave up claims to Texas and accepted the Rio Grande as the boundary. The United States paid Mexico $15 million. The Senate reluctantly ratified the treaty by a vote of 38 to 14 on March 10, 1848, after removing Article X, which had guaranteed protection of Mexican land grants. Card C, a summary and a quotation from the National Archives: President Polk recalled Trist in October 1847, but Trist negotiated the treaty in defiance of the president. In a letter to his wife on December 4, 1847, Trist wrote (as printed): "Knowing it to be the very last chance and impressed with the dreadful consequences to our country which cannot fail to attend the loss of that chance, I decided today at noon to attempt to make a treaty; the decision is altogether my own." Card D, Article VIII of the treaty (Avalon Project text, first paragraph and the end of the second): "Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to Mexico, and which remain for the future within the limits of the United States, as defined by the present treaty, shall be free to continue where they now reside, or to remove at any time to the Mexican Republic, retaining the property which they possess in the said territories, or disposing thereof, and removing the proceeds wherever they please, without their being subjected, on this account, to any contribution, tax, or charge whatever." The article adds that those who stay may keep Mexican citizenship or become U.S. citizens, and must choose within one year; those who say nothing in that year are considered to have chosen U.S. citizenship. Card E, Article IX of the treaty as ratified (cuts marked): "… shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States … and be admitted at the proper time (to be judged of by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the principles of the Constitution; …"

2. 1.

   Card C quotes a private letter Trist wrote to his wife. What is it best evidence for, Jun asks?

   • What the Mexican government wanted from the treaty talks
   • Whether the treaty later protected land grants after 1848
   • Why Trist privately decided to negotiate, against his recall
   • What historians today conclude about Trist's motives and choices
3. 2.

   Card C is a letter to a wife, and card D is a treaty article. How does each audience shape what the writer says, Pia asks?

   • The treaty gives private feelings, and the letter states public promises to both nations
   • The letter gives private reasons and feelings; the treaty states public promises
   • Both were written to persuade the Senate to ratify the treaty after the war
   • Both were written to set the price of the land and the border across it
4. 3.

   Card D promises property rights, and card B says the Senate removed Article X, on land grants. How do they relate, Bo asks?

   • They cannot be compared, since one is a treaty and one a summary of events
   • They fully conflict, so Article VIII was cancelled when the Senate voted on Article X
   • Article X added protections that Article VIII lacked, and the Senate approved it in full
   • They partly conflict: Article VIII protects property, but Article X was removed
5. 4.

   A student writes: "Mexicans in the new lands became U.S. citizens at once in 1848." How strong is that claim, given cards D and E, Milo asks?

   • Strong: card E says they would be incorporated into the Union with full rights at once
   • Weak: card D gives a one-year choice; card E leaves full rights to a later time
   • Strong: card D says they would become U.S. citizens after one year, no matter what
   • Unanswerable: treaty words are just promises, so they cannot test a claim like this one
6. 5.

   Card A requires two thirds of senators present. Card B gives 38 to 14, or 52 senators in all. If four yes votes switched, would it have passed, Zee asks?

   • Yes: 34 is still a majority, so it would have passed
   • No: 34 of 52 is about 34 percent
   • No: 34 of 52 is about 65 percent, short of two thirds
   • Yes: 34 of 52 is about 70 percent
7. 6.

   Card B gives the real vote, 38 to 14. If all 52 senators were present, what share voted yes, and was it enough under card A, Kira asks?

   • Exactly two thirds, so it was just barely enough
   • About 41 percent, not enough
   • About 38 percent, not enough
   • About 73 percent, above two thirds, so it was enough
8. 7.

   The treaty was signed February 2 and ratified March 10, 1848. What changed in between, Noah asks?

   • The Senate removed Article X, on land grants; Article VIII on property stayed
   • The Senate added Article X, which then guaranteed land grants to Mexican families
   • The Senate rewrote the boundary in 1853 by approving a new treaty and payment
   • The Senate removed Article VIII, on property rights, and kept Article X intact
9. 8.

   A student says: "Polk wanted the treaty that Trist signed." How strong is that claim, given cards B and C, Ari asks?

   • Strong: card C quotes Trist, so it shows what Polk wanted from the negotiations
   • Weak: Polk had recalled Trist, who acted alone, though Polk sent the treaty on
   • Strong: Polk sent the treaty to the Senate for a vote, so he must have wanted it
   • Weak: Polk refused to send the treaty to the Senate, so it was left unratified
10. 9.

    Which evidence would best show how Mexican families in the new lands were affected after 1848, Luz asks?

    • The text of the boundary article, including the line and the map it refers to
    • A modern summary of the treaty's terms, written by a historian for school students
    • Trist's letter of December 1847 to his wife, written before the treaty existed
    • Land records, court cases and family letters from the new territories after 1848
11. 10.

    Which statement about the 1848 treaty do cards A to E support best, Tala asks?

    • It fully protected the people living in the lands Mexico ceded to the United States
    • It was fair because Mexico was paid $15 million, so both sides gained from the deal
    • It promised property and a citizenship choice to Mexicans, but the Senate cut a guarantee
    • It gave Mexico a say in how Congress would treat the new lands and their residents later