The issue of territorial expansion sparked considerable debate in the period 1800–1855. analyze this debate and evaluate the influence of both supporters and opponents of territorial expansion in shaping federal government policy.

The main source of contention behind territorial expansion during this time in the United States was over the issue of slavery: which new states would be free and which ones would be slave. In general, the southern states wanted to extend slavery while the northern states wanted to stop it. This is what led to the Civil War.