...Who was James K. Polk? James K. Polk was the United States President from 1845 to 1849. Possibly known as “the man who emerged the Civil War”, which is not true, though some of his actions did bring the war about. Polk began studying law in Nashville which had opened many doors for a young James. He was elected as the clerk of the Tennessee State Senate in 1819. By 1822 Polk was very determined to promote his status to be a candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives. Polk decided to join the Tennessee militia as captain of the cavalry regiment of the 5th Brigade. Polk being in the militia gave him plenty of opportunities to put himself out there. He eventually became very popular and was given the nickname “Napoleon of the Stump”....
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...following of the War of 1812 and Madison, President James Polk thirty-four years later, found himself in a conflict involving the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). The Mexican-American war marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk, who believed the United States had a “manifest destiny” to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. Soon after gaining its independence in 1836 from Mexico, the United States rejected annexing the newly freed Texas, due to the political interests of the north who were against the addition of a new slave state. The Mexican government...
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...Presidential Impact Report James Knox Polk America has had countless presidents throughout the centuries. Many of them have had a lasting impact on American culture and its government. Over the years, as or society grew and had more cultural influences, our government has changed as well. James Knox Polk, one of the few “pre-modern” presidents, influenced the American government by creating new forms of executive authority through his presidency. President John Polk was a democrat who demonstrated the use of authority not explicitly granted to him, executive power, and that sometime its plays an essential role in government. Executive power is almost giving the president complete authority at times until a limit is met. His view-point on executive power could be described as a privilege by the president to be used by certain means necessary. He exhibits the use of his executive privilege to show that the power has a meaningful role in government in that there are certain circumstances that require the use of such power. Over the course of Polk’s presidency, he experienced many complications, but they are almost insignificant when compared to his achievements. For starters, his election was one of the closest in American history. The desire for additional territory in the United States was high, even after the most recent annexation of the Texas territory. Soon, America had acquired the Oregon territory known as the 49th parallel. The next action was to gain ownership...
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...ames K Polk is Known for expanding the territory of the United Sates. He added Texas and Wisconsin as states and secured land to the west that would one day make up the entire 48 contiguous states of the United states. James grew up in a big family, he was the oldest of 10 children. He first lived I North Carolina and then his family moved to Tennessee. He was a sicky child and even had to have his gallstones removed in a surgery without any type of pain killers or anesthesia. James K Polk graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina in 1818. He then went on to study law and became a lawyer in 1820. From there he started his own successful law practice. Before he became president Polk soon decided to enter politics. He was a good speaker, a skill which he had learned from being...
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...1846-1848 Some wars fall between the cracks. That appears to be what happened with Polk’s War. James K. Polk was our eleventh president. He is often listed as the worst president we’ve ever had. Polk’s War was actually the Mexican War of 1846-48. Before and during that war, most Americans including congress were not in favor of a war with Mexico. The war was launched on questionable pretexts. Why invade a smaller, poorer neighbor just for land? Mexico’s border with the Republic of Texas was the Nueces River near Corpus Christi. New Mexico, Arizona, California along with other territory belonged to Mexico, having won them from Spain some 25 years earlier. There were debates in Congress that the invasion of Mexico was unconstitutional. America had never invaded others (except the American Indians). A young congressman, Abraham Lincoln, began his move into the national limelight as an avowed opponent to the war. Polk saw America as having a manifest destiny to control the entire continent. The great American attitude of “can do” was increasing in strength. Arrogance was never been in short supply in our brief history. President James K. Polk sent troops to Corpus Christi to move the border to the Rio Grande. This was not something the Mexicans wanted. They responded with some strength and were not the push-over Polk and the war hawks thought they would be. For such a strong nation to invade a...
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...1860) how many antebellum presidents were where? • 9 5.) If in 1836 Texas had won its independence, why would Great Britain care about Texas independence in the 1840s? • It would stop southward expansion for the US 6.) In the presidential campaign of 1844 what was THE #1 issue confronting the contenders? • Texas 7.) Where was James K. Polk originally from? • North Carolina 8.) Who would have advocated "Texas or disunion," what geographic region would that person - most likely - have been from? 9.) Added to the Union in _______ Texas was what # state? • 1845 • 28 10.) By the opening salvos of the American C.W. how many states were there in the Union? • 34 11.) Regarding Oregon, which FOUR countries laid claim to it (and which TWO dropped out of the race for Oregon)? • Spain Russia Britain US 12.) THE principal waterway (river) in the Oregon controversy was what? • Columbia River 13.) Considered the "St Lawrence of the West" what is being spoken of? 14.) How is "Oregon Fever" explained? • In the 1840s Americans settled south of the Columbia River 15.) As the 11th president of the United States it is said of James K. Polk that he had a four-point program; what were those points? 15.A) Lowered tariff 15.B) Restoration of the independent treaty 15.C) acquisition of California 15.D) Settlement of Oregon dispute 16.) Explain the 1846 Walker Tariff (What was it - its purpose)? • To cut the high rates of the Black Tariff that was imposed by whigs 17...
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...The United States, from 1846 to 1848, did not have a proper justification to the acts of violence against the Mexican government after being teased by Mexico through conflicts, which further created turmoil and provoked the initiation of the Mexican-American War. Although the leadership of President Polk over the United States was one reason Mexico had to provoke the war, in the end, the beliefs of Manifest Destiny, the Texas annexation, and the weakness of the Mexican government during this time period were some of the factors which led the United States to provoke the Mexican-American War. These factors are considerably important because they show how the United States was focused on Westward expansion seeking to claim the territories of...
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...territory. The territory that was obtained via the treaty eventually became New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, and some of Utah.[1] This treaty, especially in the long run, benefited both the United States and Mexico, but there are many arguments about why the war started. Some argue that the United States was power hungry and was continuing its “bulling” of the continent to fulfill their belief that it was God’s will for the United States to control the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This has now become to be known as Manifest Destiny.[2] Then there are the counter arguments that the dictatorship of Mexico sent troops to invade the United States and killed Americans. In a message to congress on May 11, 1846, President James Polk said, “Mexico invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil.”[3] There are many arguments that say the United States is a racist nation and that this war, like many others, was because of white racism. Whether the battles were all racially motivated will never be known. It is impossible to know what was in the hearts of the Americans who fought in the war. What is know is that during that time Mexico was under an oppressive dictatorship and whether the motives of the United States were malicious or not, everyone should agree that the Mexican-American War and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo benefitted everyone who lived on that land at the...
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...Accomplishments James K Polk was arguably the most consistent president, presiding in harmony with his campaign promises. His four goals were to be completed in his four year command. His first goal was to annex The Republic of Texas into the United States. The Republic of Texas became independent from Mexico in 1836. The current President Tyler had expressed ardent approval for the annexation of Mexico, despite the plausible war. Tyler believed that Great Britain aimed to outlaw slavery in Texas, which would weaken the bonds of slavery throughout America. In April, 1844 Tyler proposed the Tyler Texas Treaty, which provoked massive criticism within the Senate. The Senate attempted to amend the treaty to bring more power of negotiation to Polk, however, Tyler offered immediate annexation just days before Polk became President. Polk nevertheless...
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...Jonah Marin Mrs. Taigen and Mrs. Keithly History and English April 20, 2017 Unjustified War with Mexico An incident occurred in the disputed territory north of the Rio Grande. Reports suggest 16 Americans were killed. The number of Mexican soldiers killed is unknown. 70 soldiers were attacked by a much larger Mexican force. The United States was not justified in going to War with Mexico because tensions were high, derision, and upsetting Mexico. “In Texas at the Alamo, Texans won their independence from Mexico in 1836.” (p.317 ph. 4). “In late 1844, James K. Polk was elected president of the United States.” (p.317 ph. 6). “In 1821, Mexico declared itself free its mother country, Spain.” (p.317 ph. 2). “The War of 1812 caused New England...
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...The Mexican-American War Samuel Lebron HIST/110CA June 18, 2015 Dr. J. Randall III Introduction The Mexican-American war according to many has a lot of controversy behind it. Many believe that the war was really initiated and provoked by the United States, and President at the time, James K. Polk. Polk envisioned a much larger America (territory) that would one day reach from the east all the way to the west (Pacific Ocean). Amid the controversy of whether it was Mexico or the United States that started this conflict, one thing is for certain, the end result of this war would help shape the U.S. in more than one ways than one. It is believed by many that newspaper editor John O’ Sullivan came up with the term Manifest Destiny, which really was a time when American families started looking west in search of new lands and opportunity, and while many were motivated by religious beliefs and the movement of the second awakening, thinking they could reach the natives and convert them to Christianity, others were simply motivated by the economic potential (e.g. fur trade) the west had. Unfortunately many Americans, mostly from the south also sought new lands but for the wrong reasons, reasons such as acquiring more lands for the expansion of cotton cultivation, thus also spreading more slavery. One of the main events that lead to the war was the dispute of boundaries between Mexico and the United States and the union of Texas with the U.S. Mexico did not...
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...made them strong, they wish to kill us, or drive us back, as they would wolves and panthers “ ( Tecumseh, 2012, 58) Tecumseh is angry because when the white people first stepped on their land they could do nothing for themselves. The indians fed them and gave them a place to stay (Tecumseh, 2012, 58). “ They gave them food when hungry, medicine when sick, spread skins for them to sleep on, and gave them grounds, that they might hunt and raise corn”(Tecumseh, 2012, 58). He and his people were taken advantage of and were betrayed. All tribes were needed to unite, to make winning against the whites possible. This led to the war of 1812, Tecumseh was killed in 1813 by the Americans. Henry Clay was the leader of the Whig Party, he lost to James K. Polk in the presidential election of 1844. Clay was begged to speak out about the Mexican war and agreed. It was called the speech at Lexington, Kentucky.He discussed that he wanted the war to end immediately and that mexico should keep all of its land. “We Ought not to forget the warning voice of all history, which teaches the difficulty of combining and consolidating together conquering and conquered nations” (Clay, 2012, 113). The whole concept of the Manifest Destiny was unconstitutional and racist. It was unconstitutional because they wanted to just kick the Indians off their land as mentioned in Andrew Jackson's document. “It will separate the indians from immediate contact with settlements of the whites “ (Jackson, 2012, 61). Jefferson...
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...With the presence of the Bear Flag was easy to seize California for the United States. President Polk sent John C. Fremont to California with a secret plan to take over the land. Back then, there was a group of rebels in California, which were tired of the Mexican rules; thus, some of the rebels started to help Fremont like Ezekiel Merritt who captured horses and took them to Fremont's camp. Then, Merritt's comrades captured General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, the wealthiest man in California and a prominent citizen; then, Vallejo was imprisoned at Sutter's Fort for two months. During that time, Sutter declared his support for the American settle, and Ide, a rebel man, emerged as the leader of the America guerrilla force named Bears. In 1846, the rebels raised a banner made for William Todd (a nephew of Abraham Lincoln) and with that declared California independent....
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...notwithstanding all our efforts to avoid it, exists by the act of Mexico herself, we are called upon by every consideration of duty and patriotism to vindicate with decision the honor, the rights, and the interest of our country.” - Special message of President James Polk asking Congress to declare war with Mexico on May 11, 1846.( Carey 26) Mexico was furious when Texas became part of the United States in 1845. A formal complaint was made by a Mexican ambassador to Washington, D.C. and returned to Mexico city. In turn, the American ambassador withdrew from Mexico. The two nations poised for war.( ---) Trying to avoid any conflict, the United States tried to obtain the territory that now makes up California and New Mexico peacefully. President James Polk sent an envoy to Mexico City of $30 million or more to buy the territory for California and New Mexico. Mexico refused to consider the offer. (-----) By May of 1846, many people in the United States wanted to declare war on Mexico and grab as much territory, but the U.S. Secretaries of state and of war argued that it would be illegal. (-----) They insisted that they would not allow the country to go to war unless Mexico attacked first. (-----) At just that time, President James Polk had already ordered General Zachary Taylor to lead a detachment of American troops into western Texas, between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, to patrol the boarder.(-----) The Mexican commander ordered him to withdraw, but instead Taylor penetrated all...
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...The Reach of the Three-Fifths Clause (from Gary Wills, ''Negro President": Jefferson and the Slave Power) 1. The effect of the clause was that slave states always had more than one-third more seats in Congress than their free population warranted; hence-- 1793—47 instead of 33 1812—76 instead of 59 1833—98 instead 73 2. Between 1788 and the Compromise of 1850 slaveholders controlled: a. the presidency for 50 years b. the speaker’s chair in the House for 41 years c. the chairmanship of House Ways and Means Committee for 42 years 3. The only men to be reelected president—Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe—were all slaveholders 4. Eighteen of 31 Supreme Court justices were slaveholders 5. Southerners controlled the patronage in federal positions—e.g., 57% of the high civil service positions under Adams, 56% under Jefferson, 37% under Jackson 6. Many of Jefferson’s actions and concerns were specifically designed to maintain Southern numerical strength in the political system through the “slave power” (the power of south to control American politics through the 3/5 clause a. survey of the West b. Louisiana purchase c. fear of Burr’s detaching part of the Southwest from the Union d. University of Virginia—a place where southerners could send their best and brightest, rather than to Yale or Harvard where they might hear too much criticism of southern slavery 7. Slavery...
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