Manifest Destiny By James K. Polk (Essay Sample)

📌Category: Government, Historical Figures, History, President of the United States
📌Words: 971
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 18 June 2022

James K. (Knox) Polk was the eleventh President of the United States of America. James K. Polk was also commonly known as the “dark horse.” Polk was a part of the Democratic Party. He served one presidential term from 1845 to 1849. Before his presidency, he was the thirteenth Speaker of the House and the ninth governor of Tennessee.  The Vice president who helped Polk was known as George M. Dallas. During Polk’s 4-year presidency, he strived to attain many goals and accomplished many achievements with his administration. James K. Polk plays a big part in American history and has made an impact on the policies and America today. Throughout Polk’s presidency, he endured many struggles that were caused by the Whigs. While Polk was a strong believer in Manifest Destiny, the Whigs were not. The main goal of the Whigs was to attempt to abolish slavery throughout the states. This was not the case for Polk. Polk wanted to continue annexing and growing the nation, resulting in more slavery. Polk only served one presidential term, but he changed America throughout his presidency.

Firstly, I am going to discuss the results of the Presidential Election of 1844. This is what led James K. Polk to his successes but also his failures. In this election, James K. Polk ran against Henry Clay. When this election finally came to an end, James K. Polk received 170 electoral votes. Henry Clay only received 105. Therefore, James K. Polk had a victory in the election of 1804. On May 27, 1844, the Democratic Party proposed its party platform which fundamentally stated that they did not want to base their beliefs on symbols but rather focus on the intelligence and patriotism of the American citizens. James K. Polk was an avid believer in Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny is a cultural belief that was used throughout the nineteenth century in the United States that Americans were destined to expand. On the other hand, the Whig Party endorsed all the Whig principles such as the idea of a strong federal government and the abolishment of slavery. The Whigs strongly disliked the idea of expansion because they strongly believed that expansion would lead to more slaves in the states. Even though America took victory in the Mexican War, the Whigs disagreed with Polk and his beliefs. The Whigs strongly believed that Polk’s primary goal was to engage in war, push the idea of slavery, and grow political power. The Whigs wanted to steer clear of a war with Mexico because of fear of expansion that would ultimately lead to more slavery throughout the states. The Whig’s main goal was to attempt to stop slavery. Fundamentally, Polk’s policies went against Whig’s beliefs.

I believe Polk was an honest, trustworthy President to a certain extent. After conducting some research on James K. Polk, it is evident to me that he seems to always keep his word. For example, Polk said he was only going to run for one term. Despite the fact he could have easily been reelected, Polk stuck to his word and only stayed in office for one brief term. He was mostly honest throughout Polk’s presidency, but people began to believe that Polk was quite devious. Polk believed that opposition was the Whigs was inevitable.  In my opinion, Polk almost seemed like he wanted to spark a war to cause expansion, grow slavery, and growing political power throughout the states. When Polk approved the annexation of Texas in 1845, this indirectly caused the Mexican War. In the eyes of Mexico, Texas was just a breakaway province, and they did not want to acknowledge its secession back in 1836. When Polk sent his troops to the Rio Grande, the Mexican army attacked them which justified Polk’s decision in the Mexican War. The United States and Mexico could not come to a consensus on whether Texas ended at the Nueces River or the Rio Grande. Polk did not like the Mexicans or what they stood for. The Mexican people believed that Texas was not an independent nation, but it was rather rebellious because of its secession. Throughout the one term of Polk’s presidency, his prime goal continued to be expansion. Polk wanted to expand so badly, that he offered Mexico up to twenty million dollars and the settlement of damage claims that were originally owed to the Americans. Like I said earlier, Polk did not want a strong federal government, unlike the Whigs. Polk believed that the federal government should not have a say-so on whether slavery continued to rise in the West. James K. Polk personally seemed to support the idea of slavery. He had twenty-five slaves owned. Polk’s views expressed on slavery in public were rather different that his views on slavery that he addressed in private. The hostility that was created during Polk’s presidency among all the Americans ultimately led to several wars, but most importantly, the Civil War.

All in all, James K. Polk honestly did a fantastic job representing the Democratic Party and its policies on slavery, expansion, and the growth of the federal government. Although Polk only served one brief term, he changed American politics and made an impact on America. James K. Polk is an icon in American history. Polk consistently dealt with opposition from the Whig Party. Throughout Polk’s only presidential term, he endured many successes but also some failures. In my opinion, Polk had a successful presidency. I believe Polk only had a series of failures because the Whigs were trying to stop Polk from passing what he believes in. Polk strongly believed in Manifest Destiny, but he also believed in expansion, which could cause slavery to continue to grow rather than decrease, which is what the Whigs wanted. During this period, slavery was a huge issue and caused many emergences in war and confrontation. I believe Polk could have had a smoother presidency if slavery hadn’t begun to be questioned. In my eyes, a good President would not only strive for equality but neutrality. In today’s world, we still see James K. Polk and the important accomplishments that he achieved for America such as the annexation of Texas which added many Southern states and California to our territory. Without Polk, expansion most likely would have never been fought for.

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