Chapter 14: James Knox Polk

Tyler’s hopes for a second term are stymied by Andrew Jackson who maneuvers his youthful Tennessee protégé and “dark horse” candidate, James Knox Polk, onto the ballot. A close election follows, with Polk defeating Henry Clay by 49.5-48.1% in the popular balloting. The remaining 2.4% goes to the newly formed Liberty Party’s abolitionist candidate.

Like Jackson, Polk is dedicated to expanding America’s borders and the institution of slavery. But unlike his mentor, he proves willing to risk the annexation of The Republic of Texas, and then go to war with Mexico. Congressional opposition is intense, including criticism from one-term Congressman Abraham Lincoln, and passage of the “Wilmot Proviso” which would ban slavery in any land acquired by the war.

The war ends in 18 months with Mexico ceding 55% of its total land in North America at the 1848 Treaty of Hidalgo. Included here is California, where gold is discovered in the Sierra Nevada Mountains northwest of Sacramento at Sutter’s Mill.

As feared by Jackson, the cession of this vast western acreage will reopen the North-South conflict over slavery and lead directly to the Civil War.