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3. "This momentous question like a fire-bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at Once as the knell of the Union. It is hushed, indeed, for the moment. But this is a reprieve only, not a final Sentence. A geographical line, coinciding with a marked principle, moral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be obliterated: and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper. ... But as it is, we have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other." Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Holmes, 1820Which of the following events or processes in the 1840s and 1850s best represents an example of a "new irritation" that Jefferson warned about in the letter?a. The acquisition of territory in the West through the U.S.-Mexico Warb. The growth of nativist movements aimed at limiting immigration to the United States c. The passage of high tariffs to protect Northern industry from European competition d. The increased conflict between white settlers and American Indians in the West.

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