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==James K. Polk and War with Mexico==

==James K. Polk and War with Mexico==

The Democrats officially won back the presidency with James Polk, who was supported by the still-popular Jackson.  Polk was the hardest-working president ever, and even died from exhaustion soon after leaving office after serving only one term.  He was also the first "dark horse" candidate, which means that no one expected him even to win the nomination of his Democratic Party.  He was nominated to run for president only after the leading contenders were all rejected by the delegates to the national convention for the Democratic Party.  In fact, Polk had gone to the convention hoping at most to be the vice presidential candidate for Martin Van Buren, but the the Democratic Party rejected nominating Van Buren again for president.

The Democrats officially won back the presidency with James Polk, who was supported by the still-popular Jackson.  Polk was the hardest-working president ever, and even died from exhaustion soon after leaving office after serving only one term.  He was also the first "dark horse" candidate, which means that no one expected him even to win the nomination of his Democratic Party.  He was nominated to run for president only after the leading contenders were all rejected by the delegates to the national convention for the Democratic Party.  In fact, Polk had gone to the convention hoping at most to be the vice presidential candidate for Martin Van Buren, but former President Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party favored Polk instead of renominating Van Buren.

Polk's opponent in the presidential race was the Whig Party leader Henry Clay, who scoffed at how little-known Polk was.  Clay and his supporters began to ask rhetorically, "Who is Polk?"<ref>http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/presidents/polk/horse_1</ref>  Polk responded to the criticism by championing Manifest Destiny (and expansion of the nation's territory).  He supported annexing Texas (which would be a slave state) to acquire southern support and supporting adding Oregon as a free state to gain northern votes.  The issue of Texas had become so important to Americans, that Polk won on a platform of annexing Texas to the United States.  Polk won based on his pro-expansion position.   

Polk's opponent in the presidential race was the Whig Party leader Henry Clay, who scoffed at how little-known Polk was.  Clay and his supporters began to ask rhetorically, "Who is Polk?"<ref>http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/presidents/polk/horse_1</ref>  Polk responded to the criticism by championing Manifest Destiny (and expansion of the nation's territory).  He supported annexing Texas (which would be a slave state) to acquire southern support and supporting adding Oregon as a free state to gain northern votes.  The issue of Texas had become so important to Americans, that Polk won on a platform of annexing Texas to the United States.  Polk won based on his pro-expansion position.   

To Polk's credit, he immediately did what he said he would.  In the Slidell Mission, Polk sent an attorney to Mexico to negotiate the border with Texas.  He also hoped to buy New Mexico and California.  That Mission failed, so Polk tried a different approach.

Polk's presidency had these achievements:

This is where an historical controversy begins.  Many say that Polk tried to provoke a war with Mexico by sending Zachary Taylor down with some soldiers to stand close to the border of Mexico in 1846.  He encouraged settlers to move closer and closer to the border.  Eventually, the inevitable conflict and bloodshed occurred, but it is unclear whether it happened on American or Mexican soil, which makes a huge difference in determining which side was right, and which side was wrong.  Polk said it happened on American soil;  Abraham Lincoln, then a congressman, disagreed and thought it happened on Mexican soil.

*reestablished an independent treasury (bank)

 

To Polk's credit, he really did what he said he would, unlike most politicians.  He achieved the greatest territorial expansion of the United States (excluding the later acquisition of Alaska). Polk acquired the territory covered by the future states of Texas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Washington, and Oregon, and portions of Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, and Montana.

 

Even though Texas won its own independence from Mexico in 1836, President Martin van Buren did not annex Texas to the United States because Mexico threatened war.  President John Tyler negotiated a Treaty of Annexation, but that caused Mexico to cut off diplomatic relations.  The Senate refused to ratify this Treaty.  Only after President Polk replaced Tyler and Polk supported this Treaty was the Senate willing to ratify it just prior to Polk's inauguration, and Texas joined the United States on December 29, 1845.

 

Mexico did not declare war as it threatened, but the relationship remained very tense and the border between Texas and Mexico was hotly disputed.  Texas claimed that its state included much of (what is today) New Mexico and Colorado, and the western and southern portions of (what is today) Texas itself.  Mexico claimed that Texas was much smaller, with its border on the Nueces River slightly north of the Rio Grande.

 

President Polk wanted all the land for the United States.  In July 1845, he sent the commander of the U.S. Army in Texas, Zachary Taylor, to take his troops into the disputed land between the Nueces and Rio Grande rivers. In November, Polk sent Congressman John Slidell to Mexico in order to purchase the disputed area, and acquire (what is now) New Mexico and California.  This effort, known as the Slidell mission, had failed by May 1846.

 

Following the failure of Slidell's mission in May 1846, Polk tried a different approach:  find a reason to declare a war.  Polk told Congress that Mexico had attacked Taylor's army on American (Texas) soil, shedding American blood there.  Congress reacted by giving Polk the declaration of war Polk sought, on May 13, 1846.  Even since it has been disputed where the American blood was actually shed.  Was it on undisputed American soil, meaning that Mexico was wrong, or on Mexican soil, meaning that Americans were the aggressor?  The official account of the United States Department of State blames ... the United States:<ref>http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/dwe/16336.htm</ref>

 

:The President neglected to inform Congress, however, that the Mexicans had used force only after Taylor's troops had positioned themselves on the banks of the Rio Grande River, which was effectively Mexican territory.

 

But that account is debatable, and may simply reflect a modern spin.  President Polk was not otherwise known to be a liar.  However, a congressman at the time, Abraham Lincoln, was a Whig (and thus opposed to Polk), and he also questioned whether the blood had really been shed on American soil.  In December 1847, Lincoln introduced the "Spot Resolutions" into Congress to challenge the "spot" claimed by Polk to start the war.  The Whigs opposed the war for its two-year duration; so did leading intellectuals in Massachusetts like Henry David Thoreau.

 

'''Mystery: Where was the American blood shed that started the Mexican War, on American or Mexican soil?'''

 

 

The U.S. Army pushed into Mexico to win this war.  In September 1847, the United States captured Mexico City.  Then Nicholas Trist, chief clerk of the Department of State and Polk's emissary to negotiate a peace treaty, began discussions with the Mexican Government just as Slidell had done the prior year.  President Polk grew angry with Trist, however, for offering terms of peace that Polk thought were too generous to Mexico.  Meanwhile, Trist had became a close friend of General Winfield Scott, who was member of the opposite Whig Party and thought to be planning to run against Polk for the presidency. Worse, the war caused the Democrats (who wanted to expand slavery) to demand for complete annexation of Mexico. 

 

Polk essentially fired Trist in October, demanding that he return to Washington, D.C.  Trist ignored this "recall order" and entered into the  Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, signing it with Mexico in Mexico City on February 2, 1848.  This Treaty provided that:

 

 

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 had passed by a margin of only 4 votes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gold in California "Jan. 1849, Polk announced that gold had been found in California. This set off the Gold Rush (“the 49ers"")"

In the end, Polk also worked himself to death, dying just a few months after leaving office.  He used to see every visitor that came to the White House!

In the end, Polk also worked himself to death, dying just a few months after leaving office.  He used to see every visitor that came to the White House!