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| | Polk was unhappy with the terms of this Treaty. He wanted even more Mexican territory. But he felt he had little choice other than submit this Treaty to the U.S. Senate for ratification, which it did on March 10, 1848 by a margin of 38 to 14. The 2/3rd minimum required for ratification was 2/3rd of 52, or 35. The Treaty was ratified by a margin of only 4 votes. | | Polk was unhappy with the terms of this Treaty. He wanted even more Mexican territory. But he felt he had little choice other than submit this Treaty to the U.S. Senate for ratification, which it did on March 10, 1848 by a margin of 38 to 14. The 2/3rd minimum required for ratification was 2/3rd of 52, or 35. The Treaty was ratified by a margin of only 4 votes. |
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| − | Soon after the war began in 1846, Congressman David Wilmot introduced a rider (Aug. 1846) to an appropriations bill stipulating that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist" in any territory acquired from this war. Southern senators (especially South Carolina Senator John Calhoun) blocked this "Wilmot Proviso," but its concept was so powerful that it captured the abolutionist sentiment all the way until (and through) the Civil War. The Wilmot Proviso had an influence on politics much as the call to stop abortion (and overturn ''Roe v. Wade'') does today. | + | Soon after the war began in 1846, Congressman David Wilmot introduced a rider (Aug. 1846) to an appropriations bill stipulating that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist" in any territory acquired from this war. Southern senators (especially South Carolina Senator John Calhoun) blocked this "Wilmot Proviso," but its concept was so powerful that it captured the abolitionist sentiment all the way until (and through) the Civil War. The Wilmot Proviso had an influence on politics much as the call to stop abortion (and overturn ''Roe v. Wade'') does today. |
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| | In addition to all of Polk's accomplishments in adding territory, he also had a habit if seeing every single visitor who came to the White House! Still a young man, Polk died shortly after leaving office of an exhaustion-induced illness. | | In addition to all of Polk's accomplishments in adding territory, he also had a habit if seeing every single visitor who came to the White House! Still a young man, Polk died shortly after leaving office of an exhaustion-induced illness. |
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| | *sent Matthew Perry to Japan to negotiate a treaty allowing open borders. The mission was successful. | | *sent Matthew Perry to Japan to negotiate a treaty allowing open borders. The mission was successful. |
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| − | *signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty in 1850, in which the United States agreed with Britain that neither nation would obtain exclusive control over an interoceanic canal joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. | + | *signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty in 1850, in which the United States agreed with Britain that neither nation would obtain exclusive control over an inter-oceanic canal joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. |
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| | *benefited from the development of a new type of ship called the Clipper. These ships were longer and faster than their predecessors. They greatly enhanced shipping and increased the trade in port cities. | | *benefited from the development of a new type of ship called the Clipper. These ships were longer and faster than their predecessors. They greatly enhanced shipping and increased the trade in port cities. |