The Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott decision were all important attempts made by national leaders and the courts to resolve the issues surrounding slavery. View Kaplans Full AP World History Period 5 Notes (1844-1877). The United States won the two-year battle, and as a result, Mexico relinquished its claims to Texas. Debates about slaveryas well as economic, political, and cultural differencesled to a widening gap between the North and South.
GHI Vintage/Universal Images Group/Getty Images. James Knox Polk was born on November 2, 1795, in a log cabin in Mecklenburg, North Carolina. A workaholic, Americas new chief executive set an ambitious agenda with four major goals: cut tariffs, reestablish an independent U.S. Treasury, secure the Oregon Territory and acquire the territories of California and New Mexico from Mexico.
Polk favored states rights and supported Jacksons plan to dismantle the Bank of the United States and replace it with a decentralized government banking system. Americans enthusiastically supported Western expansion in hopes of finding new economic opportunities. In addition to being nicknamed "Young Hickory," Polk, an eloquent orator who was small in stature, was dubbed "Napoleon of the Stump.". (Despite the U.S. victory, the war proved controversial and reignited the slavery extension debate that would ultimately result in the American Civil War in the 1860s.). But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! He was admitted to the bar in 1820 and opened a law practice in Columbia.
Polk kept his campaign promise to be a one-term president and did not seek reelection. He rose quickly in New York politics, winning a U.S. Senate seat in 1821 and presiding over a read more, Departing from the monarchical tradition of Britain, the founding fathers of the United States created a system in which the American people had the power and responsibility to select their leader. Polk also led the nation into the Mexican-American War (1846-48), in which the United States acquired California and much of the present-day Southwest. As president, he reduced tariffs, reformed the national banking system and settled a boundary dispute with the British that secured the Oregon Territory for the United States. Americas expansionist philosophy extended into foreign policy as well, as evidenced by conflict over the Oregon territory with Britain and involvement in the Mexican-American War. CA Privacy Policy. It also recognized the Rio Grande as Americas southern border and, in exchange for $15 million, ceded the land that makes up all or parts of present-day California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Polk later earned the nickname Young Hickory, a reference to his mentor Jackson, who was dubbed Old Hickory for his toughness. As a boy, Polk, the eldest of 10 children, moved with his family to Columbia, Tennessee, where his father became a prosperous land surveyor, planter and businessman.
COVID-19 Updates Compared to most other first ladies of the 19th century, she was deeply involved in her husbands career and, through him, exerted considerable read more, James Garfield (1831-81) was sworn in as the 20th U.S. president in March 1881 and died in September of that same year from an assassins bullet, making his tenure in office the second-shortest in U.S. presidential history, after William Henry Harrison (1773-1841). The younger Polk was often sick as a child, and as a teen he survived a major operation for urinary stones. Did you know? A Pennsylvania native, Buchanan began his political career in his home read more, James Monroe (1758-1831), the fifth U.S. president, oversaw the major westward expansion of the U.S. and strengthened American foreign policy in 1823 with the Monroe Doctrine, a warning to European countries against further colonization and intervention in the Western read more, James Madison (1751-1836) was a Founding Father of the United States and the fourth American president, serving in office from 1809 to 1817. SAT Study Guide: The Week Before Test Day. An advocate for a strong federal government, the Virginia-born Madison composed the first drafts of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of read more, Sarah Polk (1803-1891) was an American first lady (18451849), wife of James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States. James Polk kept his campaign promise to serve just one term and did not seek reelection in 1848. The stress of the presidency had left him in poor health, and he died that summer, on June 15, at age 53. Polk thus became Americas first dark horse presidential candidate. A Democrat who was relatively unknown outside of political circles, Polk won the 1844 presidential election as the dark horse candidate. https://www.kaptest.com/study/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AP-History-Exam-Period-5-Notes-1844-1877.jpg, http://wpapp.kaptest.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/kaplan_logo_purple_726-4.png, AP US History Exam: Period 5 Notes (1844-1877).
Polk left Congress in 1839 to become governor of Tennessee. The surgery was done before the advent of modern antiseptics and anesthesia; Polk was reportedly given some brandy as a sedative. (Federal funds had previously been deposited in private or state banks.) However, Polks expansionist platform favoring the annexation of Texas appealed to voters. In Congress, Polk was a protg of Americas seventh president, Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), a fellow Democrat and Tennessean who was in the White House from 1829 to 1837. He entered politics in 1823 when he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives. Before his presidency, Polk served in the Tennessee legislature and the U.S. Congress; in 1839 he became governor of Tennessee. During the war, President Lincoln declared an end to slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation, and after the war, worked to rebuild the country. Born in an read more, Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) served in the army for some four decades, commanding troops in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War (1832) and the second of the Seminole Wars (1835-1842). After the Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment officially ended slavery, and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments further expanded the rights of African Americans. He narrowly won the presidency with 49.5 percent of the popular vote and an electoral margin of 170-105. 2022 A&E Television Networks, LLC. George Dallas (1792-1864), a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, was chosen as Polks running mate. James Polk (1795-1849) served as the 11th U.S. president from 1845 to 1849. Copyright Kaplan, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The philosophy of Manifest Destiny emerged as motivation for this westward migration. Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution establishes the Executive Branch read more. In 1845, the United States completed its annexation of Texas, which became the 28th state on December 29.
Also during this time, the U.S. America would soon afterwards become embroiled in the Civil War. He became a full-fledged war hero through his service in the Mexican War, which broke out in 1846 read more, James Longstreet was a U.S. Army officer, government official and most famously a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War (1861-65). On the domestic front, Polk reduced tariffs in an effort to stimulate trade and created an independent U.S. Treasury. This move led to a breakdown in diplomatic relations with Mexico (from which Texas had revolted in 1836). Privacy Policy
He was a champion of manifest destinythe belief that the United States was fated to expand across the North American continentand by the end of his four years in office, the nation extended, for the first time, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. At age 49, James Polk was younger than any previous president when he entered the White House. A top student, Polk graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1818 and studied law under a leading Nashville attorney. As first lady, she was a charming and popular hostess, although she banned hard liquor from the White House and eschewed dancing, the theater and horse races. During his tenure, seven Southern states seceded from the Union and the nation teetered on the brink of civil war. With the Oregon Treaty of 1846, Polk managed another significant land acquisitionthis time without going to warwhen his administration diplomatically settled a border dispute with the British and gained full control of the present-day states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, as well as parts of Montana and Wyoming. Work for Kaplan In 1893, his remains, along with those of his wife, who outlived him by more than 40 years, were moved to the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. He ran for reelection in 1841 and lost; another run for the governorship in 1843 also ended in defeat. Call 1-800-KAP-TEST or email customer.care@kaplan.com, Contact Us After the United States sent troops to a disputed border region around the Rio Grande River, the Mexican-American War (1846-48) broke out. He was buried at Polk Place. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. One of Robert E. Lees most trusted subordinates, Longstreet played a pivotal role in Confederate operations in both the read more, Unlike the seven men who preceded him in the White House, Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) was the first president to be born a citizen of the United States and not a British subject.