Which Texas-specific historical event illustrates sectional tensions before the Civil War?

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Multiple Choice

Which Texas-specific historical event illustrates sectional tensions before the Civil War?

Sectional tensions over slavery as the nation expanded is the key idea. When Texas joined the United States in 1845 as a slave state, it intensified debates about whether slavery would be allowed in new states and territories and how the addition of another slaveholding state would affect political power in Congress. That struggle over slavery’s expansion helped drive the sectional conflict between free and slave states in the years leading up to the Civil War. By contrast, the Texas Revolution and the creation of the Republic of Texas were about independence from Mexico, and secession occurred during the Civil War, not beforehand.

Sectional tensions over slavery as the nation expanded is the key idea. When Texas joined the United States in 1845 as a slave state, it intensified debates about whether slavery would be allowed in new states and territories and how the addition of another slaveholding state would affect political power in Congress. That struggle over slavery’s expansion helped drive the sectional conflict between free and slave states in the years leading up to the Civil War. By contrast, the Texas Revolution and the creation of the Republic of Texas were about independence from Mexico, and secession occurred during the Civil War, not beforehand.

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