Week 5 chapter 13-15 questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 5 chapter 13-15 questions - Assignment Example The origins of this concept is traced by to 1845 when journalist John OSullivan first used the United States Magazine, and Democratic Review, where he expressed the need to annex Texas to ensure the expansion of the American territorial boundaries. At the time, the journalist was reportedly protesting that England and France were meddling too much in the American affairs, something that he did not like. The term then grew in popularity and became a political word after that (Brands et al., 2012). The 1850s Compromise was the legislations that were proposed to help resolve the dispute that arose regarding slavery and the territorial boundaries just after the Mexican-American war. Some of the key provisions of the Compromise include the proposal that California be admitted as a free state to the Union. The second provision was that the part of Mexican that had not seceded be subdivided into two territories namely Utah and New Mexico and that these territories be free of slavery. Thirdly, the Compromise proposed complete abolition of the slave trade in the District of Colombia. Fourthly, the Compromise contained the Fugitive Slave Act, which required all Americans to assist the slaves that had returned. Lastly, the Compromise had a provision requiring Texas to give up parts of the western land which it had earlier claimed and received approximately $10 billion to help settle the national debt (Brands et al., 2012). Following the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford in which Scott sued for his freedom after the Missouri Compromise had prohibited slavery, Justice Taney ruled against Scott arguing that not American regardless of whether slave or free could be an American citizen. In fact, the judge continued to argue that Scott could still not have won even if he were to be a legal plaintiff. This ruling favored the sectionalism in the sense that it meant that slavery would still be practices in Missouri despite having been outlawed by the Compromise (Brands et al.,