President Polk's Expansionism

Polk had said that Mexico were planning on an invasion and declared war on Mexico. This didn’t show that we show not be afraid or fear military ambition. It showed how selfish man can be just to gain more territory because they believed that it was their right to expand the country. Mexico only wanted what was theirs after claiming independence from Spain, and not have it taken away. Texas was under Mexico law, and Mexico banned slavery. Many Americans settlers did live in Texas at the time and knew it was against Mexico’s law but still had slaves anyways. The war lasted for three years, but soon Mexico decided to sign a peace treaty that gave territories to America. America paid Mexico 15 billion for lands that are known today as California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and

The Mexican-American War was driven by the idea of "Manifest Destiny" (Which is the belief that America had a God-given right to expand the country's borders from sea to sea) This belief would eventually cause a great deal of suffering for many Mexicans, Native Americans and United States citizens. Following the earlier Texas War of Independence from Mexico, tensions between the two largest independent nations on the North American continent grew as Texas eventually became a U.S. state. Disputes over the border lines sparked military confrontation, helped by the fact that President Polk eagerly sought a war in order to seize large tracts of land from Mexico.

Consequently, Polk conceded on demands for expansion deep into Canada and set about instead to negotiated a more reasonable American-Canadian border. The Oregon Treaty, signed with Great Britain in 1846, allowed the U.S. to acquire peacefully what is now Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Reasonably certain that war in the Northwest could be avoided, Polk concentrated on efforts to claim the Southwest from Mexico… He tried to buy the territory, and when that failed, he

A final reason why the Mexican War was justified was that President Polk sent a message to the Senate to explain about going to war with Mexico. “I had ordered an efficient military force to take a position between the Nueces and Del Norte.” (Polk 325) This quote shows that the U.S. army marched and stayed between the Nueces and Del Norte to fight the Mexican soldiers. “Polk was a strong supporter of Manifest Destiny.” (Roden 317) This quote shows that Polk was in agreement in accepting and accomplishing the plan of God. Paraphrased information: Polk was elected in late 1844 and did not want just Texas, he also wants California, too. (Roden 317) This information shows that Texas isn’t the only state America should own. The United States had

First he wanted to cut protective tariffs, but opposed cutting ones that “might in some way provide protection for certain goods by making imports unaffordable”(Miller Center of Public Affairs) . Secondly, he wanted to “reestablish an independent U.S. Treasury” (History.com Staff)1 which would allow for all of the country’s funds to be held in one place instead of it being scattered among several different private banks. The third and forth goals of Polk where based off of his belief in manifest destiny and because of these beliefs he decided that we must expand west in order to prosper. This lead Polk to want to secure the Oregon Territory from Great Britain and he also wanted to gain the territories of New Mexico and California from Mexico. If these two Territories were gained he knew that it would be the first time that the United States of America extended from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. The fifth and final goal of Polk was to allow the annexation of Texas, so it could become the twenty eighth state of the United States of America. Although, Polk also made it a mission to accomplish all of this in four years due to his promising to only run for one

In 1844, James Polk won the presidential election by campaigning on the idea of expanding the American border to the Pacific Ocean. David A. Clary, author of Eagles and Empires, asserts that Polk's "territorial

In addition to Polk’s scheme to pull Mexico into war with the United States, he was also hatching a plan in the west. With the help of John C. Freemont and a group of American frontiersmen, known as the “Bear Flaggers”, he organized a revolt against Mexican rule and liberated most of California before the U.S. invasion began. Likewise, Both California and New Mexico were occupied by American forces prior to the assault on northern Mexico. (Tindall & Shi 2010). Securing the territories of Texas, New Mexico, and California ignited widespread support for the war and re-established the national America’s sentiment of manifest destiny. (Tindall & Shi 2010).

In 1845 Texas was annexed as a state, however disputes between America and Mexico remained concerning where the border would be located. President Polk at the time had no choice but to send troops due south to defend Texas and the Thornton affair, won by the Mexicans, would force congress to declare war on Mexico.

The idea of Manifest Destiny had arisen during this time. Manifest Destiny was the belief of Americans that it is their God-given destiny to expand westward and become a transcontinental nation. They needed to extend from pacific to Atlantic, east to west coast. The westward expansion did not stop at California as many believe; goes all the way to Asia and further in the Pacific Ocean (Document 4). The advocates believed that they were superior and better than the Europeans. The Europeans act like imperialists while America will not harm native lands; they will only help or try and create a place of freedom and liberty, a gift to all the people. Thomas Denton believes Oregon is a stepping stone for trade with Asia (Document 4). James Polk’s campaign was 54-40 or fight. Britain and the United States jointly governed the territory which had extended to the 54th parallel. America gives a notice of termination for territory at Oregon and they met for discussion and settle at 49th parallel. Citizens were upset that Polk “settled” . Polk starts the war with Mexico to gain more territory to please the communities he had

Sam W. Haynes has identified Polk as a "fitting representative" of the "expansionist impulse" known as Manifest Destiny. As a condition of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican War, the government of Mexico ceded to the U.S. a vast amount of territory that included the present state of California. The term Manifest Destiny appeared in print for the primary time many months following Polk's inauguration in an article printed within the full general associated Democratic Review line for an finish to political strife relating to the recent pick out Congress over the annexation of TX, a heatedly oppose issue that patterned conspicuously within the election James Knox Polk won. The author of the piece, the journal's editor, John L. O'Sullivan, seen that European nation and France had interfered with the method of annexation "for the declared object of thwarting our policy and hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our imperialism to extend the continent assigned by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions." during a diary entry recorded later in 1845, Polk, a full general Democrat, known this read thereupon of the final public, writing that "the

After the Midwest had been substantially developed, the national focus turned toward the far west. The territory of Texas, controlled by the Spanish, was settled by Americans, who eventually undertook the Texas Rebellion in efforts to win independence. When the United States admitted Texas to the Union in 1845, the Mexican government was outraged, and from 1846 to 1848, the two nation's squared off in the Mexican War. With a resounding victory, the United States gained control of Texas, New Mexico, and California. The Oregon territory was annexed in 1846 as well, and the US controlled the land all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Coined by John L. O’Sullivan in 1845, Manifest Destiny represented a period in which Americans felt that it was their right to expand and conquer the rest of the continent (Davis 179). However, actions taken with this belief in mind begin to occur several years prior. The first of these events was the fight over Texas. In 1836, Texas declared itself independent of Mexican control and became its own republic. At first, Americans hesitated to allow Texas statehood as it created problems for abolitionists, and its entry would cause political strife with Mexico as they threatened war over the annexation of Texas. However, this changed in 1845 when President John Tyler, in one of his final acts as president, signed a congressional resolution to allow statehood for Texas. Mexico’s previously threatened war seemed to become an unavoidable reality. This was not an issue, however, for Tyler’s successor, James K. Polk. A Democrat from Tennessee, Polk was a strong supporter of the Manifest Destiny belief and took many actions to spread American influence. In fact, in 1846, Polk approached Congress for a declaration of war, and he received it. Wanting to acquire more land for the United States, Polk was willing to fight for it. Called the Mexican-American War, it lasted until 1848, and ended in an American victory (Shmoop Editorial Team). After the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States now owned Texas, Utah, Nevada, and California along with sections of Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Colorado (Davis 193). This was not Polk’s only attempt for the acquisition of more land, as he wanted the jointly owned British-American Oregon territory for the United States. Originally, Polk requested the land up to “54-40” as his campaign slogan had established. However, Great Britain remained adamant and further negotiations led to land south of the 49th parallel becoming U.S. property

He sent John Slidell to negotiate on allowing the U.S. to purchase the state of California. A huge amount of 40 million U.S. dollars was offered for the purchase of California and New Mexico but Mexico refused. It is wrong to classify James K. Polk as a bully because Texas initially asked to join the Union. Polk stated that “The Republic of Texas has made known her desire to come into our Union, to form a part of our Confederacy and enjoy with us the blessings of liberty secured and guaranteed by our Constitution.” Through his eyes, Polk was doing them a favor by fighting for Texas.

Under James Knox Polk, the United States grew by more than a million square miles, adding territory that now composes the states of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, much of New Mexico, and portions of Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. Much of the United States is owed to the expansion planned by Former President John K Polk. His actions would lead to the annexation of Texas and purchase of California and New Mexico from Mexico. In the mid 1840’s John L. O’Sullivan editor of the United States magazine and democratic Review used the phrase “Manifest Destiny”. To him these words seemed to be an appropriate label for the spirit of expansionism that boosted from the presidency of John K Polk and his extension of pre-civil war united states.

Polk was strongly in favor of expanding the United States to the Pacific. This opinion won him the election of 1844. That year Henry Clay, a well known and loved figure in American politics, ran and was expected to blow, little known, Polk of the charts. The only problem was Clay was nervous about territorial expansion. He did not want was with Mexico and was unsure of the constitutionality of expanding. Polk won because the majority of the public believed in Manifest Destiny.