James Knox Polk is regarded as the first dark horse president and was considered the last of the Jacksonian president to sit in the White House. He is regarded by many as the last strong president until the Civil War.
James K Polk was born on November 2, 1795 in rural North Carolina where his family had moved from Pennsylvania. He was the oldest of ten children and his father always groomed him to take over the family farm but he proved too sickly and weak to handle the strenuous work. In 1806, his family moved to Tennessee but he would return to the state of his birth in order to pursue his education. He graduated from the University of North Carolina with honors on 1818. He pursued a career in law under a leading Nashville attorney Felix …show more content…
In January 1846 he sent troops under General Zachary Taylor into the disputed area between the Río Grande and the Nueces. In late April a Mexican force under General Mariano Arista crossed the Río Grande and attacked an American patrol, killing or wounding 16 soldiers. On May 11, Polk sent a message to Congress and demanded a declaration of war against Mexico, claiming that Mexico had “invaded our territory and shed American blood.” His stated objective was the acquisition of California and New Mexico.
The war outraged many New Englanders and Whigs. In New England, those who wanted an immediate end to slavery, called abolitionists, viewed the war as a conspiracy to increase slave territory. In Congress a first-term Whig congressman, Abraham Lincoln, challenged Polk to show him the spot on American soil where American blood had been shed. However, the war was immensely popular with most Westerners and with a majority of Southerners.
In August, New Mexico fell to the forces of Brigadier General Stephen Watts Kearny. California, where Mexican rule had always been weak, fell before the combined assault of Commodore Robert Stockton's naval forces and the so-called Bear Flag army of Captain John C. Fremont. General Taylor invaded Mexico from the north, while General Winfield Scott invaded Mexico at Veracruz and marched inland to capture Mexico
James K Polk was born on November 2, 1795 in rural North Carolina where his family had moved from Pennsylvania. He was the oldest of ten children and his father always groomed him to take over the family farm but he proved too sickly and weak to handle the strenuous work. In 1806, his family moved to Tennessee but he would return to the state of his birth in order to pursue his education. He graduated from the University of North Carolina with honors on 1818. He pursued a career in law under a leading Nashville attorney Felix …show more content…
In January 1846 he sent troops under General Zachary Taylor into the disputed area between the Río Grande and the Nueces. In late April a Mexican force under General Mariano Arista crossed the Río Grande and attacked an American patrol, killing or wounding 16 soldiers. On May 11, Polk sent a message to Congress and demanded a declaration of war against Mexico, claiming that Mexico had “invaded our territory and shed American blood.” His stated objective was the acquisition of California and New Mexico.
The war outraged many New Englanders and Whigs. In New England, those who wanted an immediate end to slavery, called abolitionists, viewed the war as a conspiracy to increase slave territory. In Congress a first-term Whig congressman, Abraham Lincoln, challenged Polk to show him the spot on American soil where American blood had been shed. However, the war was immensely popular with most Westerners and with a majority of Southerners.
In August, New Mexico fell to the forces of Brigadier General Stephen Watts Kearny. California, where Mexican rule had always been weak, fell before the combined assault of Commodore Robert Stockton's naval forces and the so-called Bear Flag army of Captain John C. Fremont. General Taylor invaded Mexico from the north, while General Winfield Scott invaded Mexico at Veracruz and marched inland to capture Mexico