Other than the fact that these states were admitted to the union between 1803 and 1858, what do they have in common?

a) they each entered the union as free states.
b) they each entered the union as slave states.
c) these states were created from land gained from the war with mexico.
d) each of these states used the concept of popular sovereignty to settle the slavery issue.

i do believe its (d) it allowed the government to offer pioneers sixty acres of western land if they lived on it and made improvements to it.

explanation: signed into law in may 1862, the homestead act opened up settlement in the western united states, allowing any american, including freed slaves, to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land. by the end of the civil war, 15,000 homestead claims had been established, and more followed in the postwar years