Who Was James K. Polk A Bully?

The U.S. government encouraged westward expansion through the Louisiana Purchase and the Homestead Act. President Thomas Jefferson acted on the Louisiana Purchase, after buying the land from France for millions of dollars, he also believed in the idea of moving west and thought of it as a

James K. Polk was the eleventh President, from 1845 to 1849. James K. Polk had said in his inaugural address on March 4, 1845, “ The world has nothing to fear from military ambition in our government. “ He basically is saying that we as citizens and people in the world should not have any fear in military ambition from our government. Polk’s presidency reflected this statement by achieving his four main goals he set out to achieve during his presidency. The four main goals were to cut tariffs, reestablishing an independent U.S Treasury, securing the Oregon Territory, gaining the territories of California and New Mexico from Mexico. In ways that didn’t reflect the statement was that he caused war with Mexico for three years.

Westward expansion was a time of successes and failures, a time celebrations and grief, a time full of life and death but in the end it shaped how America is the way is today. Westward expansion was put in action because of the belief of Manifest Destiny, the belief that it is America fate to expand from the Atlantic to Pacific ocean. The economical, political and humanitarians impacts were necessary to achieve the goal of manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion.

The election of 1844 pitted James Polk, a Democrat expansionist, against Whig leader Henry Clay. One of Polk’s slogan was called, 54°40 or Flight, which supported pushing foreign troops past that latitude and out of the Oregon Territory. Fundamentally, that was jointly administered by the United States and British in Canada. Polk’s supporters also wanted the immediate annexation of Texas as well as expansion into the Mexican-claimed territories of New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Clay, too, favored expansion, but at a slower rate. He also hoped to avoid war by negotiating with Mexico and Britain for the land America wanted. The election was close, but in the end Polk won. In the last days of his administration, President Tyler proposed the annexation of Texas, arguing that Polk’s victory amounted to a mandate for annexation. The annexation vote was passed, the United States annexed Texas, and Mexico broke off diplomatic relations. Under these circumstances, war with Mexico seemed likely.

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

James K. Polk was the 11th presidents of the United states of America. His name is perhaps most closely associated with Manifest Destiny, because a year before he became the president, the Manifest destiny started the embody the governing philosophy of the Polk administration and its ardently expansionist aims. Polk’s campaigning methods is the leading cause to his victory of becoming the president of America. He campaigned on an expansionist platform, and vowed to not agree with the British on the dispute over the Oregon Territory's northern border. After Polk took office, the tension with Mexico over the annex of Texas continued to grow. In May 1846, Polk got his cabinet to approve of him to send a message of war against Mexico to Congress. In May 1847, president Polk had Nicholas P. Trist, the chief clerk in the state department, to Mexico with Gen. In spite of Polk's wish, Trist signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in early February 1848. This was the Treaty that ended the Mexican American War. Polk still was unhappy with the land he had just ceased- but polk had to settle with what the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had got him: California, Nevada, Utah, most of New Mexico and Arizona, and the disputed

Polk became President as the trouble with Mexico was happening. In 1846 under Polk's orders the troops of General Zachary Taylor were sent to the Rio Grande. The US considered the Rio Grande to be the new border between Mexico and the US but the Mexicans believed the border was farther north at the Nueces River. The Mexican government automatically thought the movement of the U.S. army was an attack on Mexico. (Doc C). The Mexicans knew they had to defend the border of the Rio Grande so that’s what they did. They set up troops along the Rio Grande to protect its border (Doc C). In document C it states "The American government acted like a bandit who came upon a traveler". The Mexicans described us as thieves and a threat to the peace (Doc C). Polk sent a known spy, William Parrott, back to Mexico on a diplomatic mission after Mexico made it clear that Parrott was Mexico's enemy trying to give the Congress a reason to go to war (Online book). Polk is trying to give Congress a reason to go to war with Mexico (Online book).All this time Polk looked like the "good guy" to the voters back home, defending the land and the people. The people are agreed to go to war with Mexico (Doc B), So in 1846 Congress votes to go to war (Doc B). The United States was ready to take action because we thought that we are superior to the Mexicans (Doc

The first reason the United States was justified in going to war with Mexico is because we had rights. “Polk was a strong supporter of manifest destiny.” This shows that Polk would have agreed to what people had to say about gaining land. “When word arrived

By the mid nineteenth century, the United States was expanding westward rapidly. And as America expanded, so did the sectionalism. The rifts between the North and the South, caused by conflicting views on Westward Expansion were becoming more evident. Not only were the debates over westward expansion tedious; the ever growing social debate was also becoming alarmingly prevalent. And in 1860, the Civil War broke out, ultimately because of economic, political and social aspects of westward expansion. Therefore, westward expansion caused the Civil War.

in the Mexican American war. While James Polk is considered to be a controversial figure in

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).

Westward expansion was a new thing and time in our country and had many impacts on the American people and ways of life. The government made it available to buy a lot more of land in the West. Our government gave opportunities for people to move west for a better life or more land in the west. The government gave opportunities like the homestead act where the government would give families 160 acres of land if they moved west at the time this deal was going on. This act was signed into law by President Lincoln in 1862. People moved west for any opportunity they could. People moved for a new life, more land, and more opportunities in

What was the most important things that James K. Polk do that made him influence on the Mexican war? This would be one of the most important thing that happen in America history. The reason for how important this part of history is because the Mexicans lost one third of their land to the United States at the end of the war. Polk had a big impact on whether or not America should go to war and take the land that the Mexicans would not give up. At this time there are many problems that Polk wanted to get rid of since a lot of Americans were moving in the Mexico land.

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.

Some historians may construe westward expansion as beneficial to the United States, arguing that it reduced tensions within the nascent nation. Westward migration was glorified in the early 19th century as the way in which to achieve true freedom. The West was associated with economic opportunity and basic Republican ideals. Streams of individuals seeking prosperity and liberty flooded into the west after the Louisiana Purchase. With the rapid peopling of the west, new transportation systems arose in an effort to connect the new western territories to the southern and northern regions. Roads, steamboats, and canals such as the Cumberland Road and Erie canal were created to transport people and goods from one end of the United States to the other. The railroad was another invention that promoted unity.