The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ended hostilities with Mexico and resulted in acquiring new territories, intensifying the slavery debate. Which option best captures this?

• A. The U.S. extended slavery into all new territories immediately.
• B. The U.S. created a plan to annex all of Mexico.
• C. The U.S. acquired new territories, intensifying the slavery debate.
• D. The U.S. ended hostilities without any territorial changes.

Answer: (C)

The central idea is how the treaty’s territorial gains sparked the slavery debate. Ending the war did more than stop fighting; it added vast lands to the United States—areas that are now California and much of the Southwest. That new land raised a crucial question: would slavery be legal in these territories? The push and pull over permitting or prohibiting slavery in these areas became a major sectional flashpoint that shaped national politics in the years that followed. So, describing the outcome as acquiring new territories that intensified the slavery debate captures both the territorial change and the immediate political conflict it created. The other statements don’t fit because they describe scenarios that didn’t happen, such as immediate universal expansion of slavery, annexing all of Mexico, or no territorial change.