Often
referred to as the first "dark horse"
President, James K. Polk was the last of the
Jacksonians to sit in the White House, and the last
strong President until the Civil War.
He
was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in
1795. Studious and industrious, Polk was graduated
with honors in 1818 from the University of North
Carolina. As a young lawyer he entered politics,
served in the Tennessee legislature, and became a
friend of Andrew Jackson.
In
the House of Representatives, Polk was a chief
lieutenant of Jackson in his Bank war. He served as
Speaker between 1835 and 1839, leaving to become
Governor of Tennessee.
Until
circumstances raised Polk's ambitions, he was a
leading contender for the Democratic nomination for
Vice President in 1844. Both Martin Van Buren, who
had been expected to win the Democratic nomination
for President, and Henry Clay, who was to be the
Whig nominee, tried to take the expansionist issue
out of the campaign by declaring themselves opposed
to the annexation of Texas. Polk, however, publicly
asserted that Texas should be "re-annexed"
and all of Oregon "re-occupied."
The
aged Jackson, correctly sensing that the people
favored expansion, urged the choice of a candidate
committed to the Nation's "Manifest
Destiny." This view prevailed at the Democratic
Convention, where Polk was nominated on the ninth
ballot.
"Who
is James K. Polk?" Whigs jeered. Democrats
replied Polk was the candidate who stood for
expansion. He linked the Texas issue, popular in the
South, with the Oregon question, attractive to the
North. Polk also favored acquiring California.
Even
before he could take office, Congress passed a joint
resolution offering annexation to Texas. In so doing
they bequeathed Polk the possibility of war with
Mexico, which soon severed diplomatic relations.
In
his stand on Oregon, the President seemed to be
risking war with Great Britain also. The 1844
Democratic platform claimed the entire Oregon area,
from the California boundary northward to a latitude
of 54'40', the southern boundary of Russian Alaska.
Extremists proclaimed "Fifty-four forty or
fight," but Polk, aware of diplomatic
realities, knew that no course short of war was
likely to get all of Oregon. Happily, neither he nor
the British wanted a war.
He
offered to settle by extending the Canadian
boundary, along the 49th parallel, from the Rockies
to the Pacific. When the British minister declined,
Polk reasserted the American claim to the entire
area. Finally, the British settled for the 49th
parallel, except for the southern tip of Vancouver
Island. The treaty was signed in 1846.
Acquisition
of California proved far more difficult. Polk sent
an envoy to offer Mexico up to $20,000,000, plus
settlement of damage claims owed to Americans, in
return for California and the New Mexico country.
Since no Mexican leader could cede half his country
and still stay in power, Polk's envoy was not
received. To bring pressure, Polk sent Gen. Zachary
Taylor to the disputed area on the Rio Grande.
To
Mexican troops this was aggression, and they
attacked Taylor's forces.
Congress
declared war and, despite much Northern opposition,
supported the military operations. American forces
won repeated victories and occupied Mexico City.
Finally, in 1848, Mexico ceded New Mexico and
California in return for $15,000,000 and American
assumption of the damage claims.
President
Polk added a vast area to the United States, but its
acquisition precipitated a bitter quarrel between
the North and the South over expansion of slavery.
Polk,
leaving office with his health undermined from hard
work, died in June 1849.
James
Polk