AP US History · Topic 5.2
Manifest Destiny Practice
Part of Period 5: 1844–1877.
Practice questions
5
Sample questions
5 of 5 — sign in to practice the rest with adaptive difficulty and mastery tracking.
Sample 1difficulty 3/5
The California Gold Rush (1849)
- A
Took place in central Texas rather than in the Sierra Nevada foothills
- B
Was a small local rush that drew only a few hundred experienced miners
- Ccheck_circle
Brought hundreds of thousands of '49ers' to California, leading to its rapid statehood
- D
Failed to attract settlers due to harsh conditions and poor mineral yields
Why
Massive immigration (including Chinese laborers); accelerated calls for California statehood, fueling sectional crisis.
- A
Sample 2difficulty 3/5
"Manifest Destiny" was the belief that
- Acheck_circle
The U.S. was destined to expand across North America
- B
Slavery was destined to spread to every corner of the continent
- C
The U.S. should remain confined to the original thirteen states
- D
Native American nations were destined to govern North America
Why
Coined by John O'Sullivan in 1845; justified expansion at the expense of Native Americans, Mexicans, and others.
- A
Sample 3difficulty 3/5
"Other nations have undertaken... to thwart our policy and hamper our power... in the avowed object of... checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions." — John L. O'Sullivan, "Annexation," July-August 1845
O'Sullivan's editorial coined a term that justified which immediate policy aim?
- Acheck_circle
The annexation of Texas to the United States
- B
The conquest of Cuba from Spain
- C
The acquisition of Alaska from Russia
- D
Federal subsidies for the Erie Canal
Why
O'Sullivan introduced the phrase "manifest destiny" while arguing for Texas annexation, asserting that Providence intended the United States to expand across North America.
- A
Sample 4difficulty 3/5
"Our manifest destiny [is] to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions." — John O'Sullivan, 1845
Which sectional dispute did the territorial gains shown most directly intensify?
- A
Whether tariffs should protect Northern manufacturers
- B
Whether the United States should annex Cuba and Central America
- C
Whether the federal government should fund a transcontinental railroad
- Dcheck_circle
Whether slavery would expand into the newly acquired western lands
Why
The Mexican Cession reignited debate over slavery in the territories, fueling the Wilmot Proviso, the Compromise of 1850, and ultimately the sectional crisis.
- A
Sample 5difficulty 4/5
The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
- Acheck_circle
Transferred more than 500,000 sq mi (California, NM, AZ, etc.) from Mexico to the US
- B
Annexed Cuba to the United States
- C
Returned Texas to Mexican sovereignty
- D
Ended the Civil War
Why
Ended the Mexican-American War. The Mexican Cession added vast Southwest, intensifying sectional fights over slavery (Wilmot Proviso, 1850 Compromise).
- A