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How Did the Mexican Cession Trigger a Crisis Over Slavery? - The Compromise of 1850 and the Struggle for Western Territories | Sleepy Facts About History
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In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo transferred over half a million square miles of Mexican territory to the United States, creating a massive new western domain. This episode examines how that acquisition forced an unresolved constitutional contradiction into the center of American politics: whether the institution of slavery could expand into these newly acquired lands. The existing Missouri Compromise framework collapsed, leading to fierce legislative battles over the Wilmot…
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