In 1848, the United States gains a vast area from Mexico. The question now before the nation is whether these new territories will allow slavery or be “free soil.”
Will new territories be Free Soil or Slave States? This is the national argument after the United States, at the conclusion of the Mexican War, gains the areas that include present-day New Mexico, California, and Arizona on February 2, 1848. Adding to the contention that same year, gold is discovered in California and California desires to become a state. In support of the Mexican War, the South had looked toward the new territories acquired being slave states.
