Which of the following developments most directly led to the activities described in the excerpt? A prohibition on the northern extent of slavery in territories west of the Mississippi River Answer A: A prohibition on the northern extent of slavery in territories west of the Mississippi River A The acquisition of significant territory following the Mexican-American War Answer B: The acquisition of significant territory following the Mexican-American War B The vetoing of the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States Answer C: The vetoing of the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States C The completion of the first transcontinental railroad to the Pacific Ocean

“No roads marked the way to the traveler in California then: but, guided by the sun and well-known mountain peaks, we proceeded on our journey. . . . Some forty or fifty men were at work with the cradle machines, and were averaging about eight ounces [of gold] per day to the man. But a few moments passed before I was knee deep in water, with my wash-basin full of dirt, plunging it about endeavoring to separate the dirt from the gold. After washing some fifty pans of dirt, I found I had realized about four bits’ worth of gold. Reader, do you know how [one] feels when the gold fever heat has suddenly fallen to about zero? I do. . . . The Indians who were working for Capts. Sutter and Weber gave them leading information so that they were enabled to know the direction in which discoveries were to be made. . . .

“The morals of the miners of ’48 should here be noticed. No person worked on Sunday at digging for gold. . . . We had ministers of the gospel amongst us, but they never preached. Religion had been forgotten, even by its ministers, and instead of their pointing out the narrow way which leads to eternal happiness . . . they might have been seen, with pick-axe and pan, traveling untrodden [untraveled] ways in search of . . . treasure . . . or drinking good health and prosperity with friends.”

James H. Carson, describing life in the early California gold fields, 1848

B. The acquisition of significant territory following the Mexican-American War

Explanation:

Following the Mexican-American war, which lasted between 1846 to 1848, United America eventually got a sizeable Mexican territory covering present-day New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California, Texas, and western Colorado. It was made under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Hence, what led to the activities described in the excerpt was during the early stage of exploration of new places in the west or the acquired territory in the west, after the Mexican-American war

small european communities with shared traditions consolidated into large new states (apex)

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