Curated OER
Manifest Destiny
Complete with maps, photographs, and historical documents, this presentation would be a great resource throughout a unit about mid-19th century America. Manifest Destiny, Texas Independence, the Oregon Trail, and the Mexican War are all...
US National Archives
National Archives: Congress Debates the Fate of the Nation
Students will use a copy of the Wilmot Proviso and a map used by President Polk in an address to Congress to debate whether territory acquired through the Mexican War should be free or slave states. This debate in Congress served as a...
Other
Georgia's Blue and Gray Trail Presents: Election of 1848
An extensive look at the election of 1848 including information about the conventions, the parties which elected candidates, the platforms, and the outcome. From the Civil War Encyclopedia.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Free Soil or Slave? The Dilemma of the West
By reading this section of a chapter on "Westward Expansion," students will be able to describe the terms of the Wilmot Proviso and the Compromise of 1850, discuss why the Free-Soil Party objected to the westward expansion of slavery and...
Digital History
Digital History: The Crisis of 1850 [Pdf]
Read excerpts of the contentious debate about slavery in the territories as the U.S. Congress tried to hammer out legislation that could be passed by both houses and signed into law by the president. Find the provisions of the Compromise...
Digital History
Digital History: The Political Crisis of the 1840s
Read about the attempt to keep slavery out of the newly acquired Mexican Cession, and so how this attempt revealed an increased split between North and South.
Digital History
Digital History: The Compromise of 1850
Before finding the final terms of the Compromise of 1850, read about the disputes and debate that accompanied the attempts to pass something that would address Northern and Southern concerns.
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Teaching History: Ask a Historian: Senatorial Division
A discussion of how the political balance kept shifting as free and slave states were admitted to the Union prior to the Civil War.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Popular Sovereignty
Read about the concept of popular sovereignty in relation to issue of expansion of slavery in the territories. It was not as simple as it seemed. Find out about how the issue of slavery was addressed in the election of 1848. Included is...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Wilmot's Proviso
Congressman David Wilmot, even before the end of the Mexican-War, proposed legislation that would outlaw the expansion of slavery into the new territory, should the United States acquire it. Read about his reasons for proposing the...
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: James Knox Polk: Domestic Affairs
Read about the domestic policies of the Polk Administration.
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: Zachary Taylor: Campaigns and Elections
In this article from the Miller Center's site on Zachary Taylor, you can find a description of the election of 1848 and Taylor's decision to run as a Whig.
Other
Course Notes: Us History: 1840 1877: Expansion and Slavery
A list with short descriptions of the issues and events that impacted the expansion of the frontier, with slavery being the most significant issue.
American Battlefield Trust
American Battlefield Trust: Civil War: Trigger Events of the Civil War
A list with descriptions of the major events that led up to the outbreak of the Civil War.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Manifest Destiny
This Khan Academy resource provides notes for American History. "Manifest Destiny" is explained on this resource, along with the implications associated with expansion of the North American continent.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Three Senatorial Giants: Clay, Calhoun and Webster
Read about these three titans of the Senate from 1812 until their deaths in the 1850s. Their last struggle against each other was the issue of slavery. See how Henry Clay, the great compromiser, offered one last compromise to try to keep...
ClassFlow
Class Flow: The Debate Over Slavery
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart contains information about the renewed debate over the spread of slavery after the Mexican War. It describes the Wilmot Proviso, popular sovereignty, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive...
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Wilmot Proviso
The Wilmot Proviso, proposed by David Wilmot, was an amendment to the James Polk appropriations bill to gain funding for the settlement of the Mexican-American War. It stated that slavery should be banned in the territories acquired from...