Expansionism Under James K. Polk

Expansionism under James K. Polk

During the years surrounding James K. Polk’s presidency, the United States of America grew economically, socially, and most noticeably geographically. In this time period, the western boundaries of the Untied States would be expanded all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Many Americans in the 19th century believed that the acquisition of this territory to the west was their right and embraced the concept of “Manifest Destiny”. This concept was the belief that America should stretch from sea to shining sea and it was all but inevitable. Under the cover of “Manifest Destiny”, President Polk imposed his views of an aggressive imperialistic nation. Imperialism is the practice of extending the power and dominion of a nation by direct territorial acquisitions over others, and clearly America took much of this land by force rather than peaceful negotiations with other nations. Polk acquired three huge areas of land to include: the Republic of Texas, the Oregon Territory, and the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico under the Mexican Cession.

Just before Polk’s presidency Texas had freed itself from Mexican rule and desired American annexation. This desire came from thousands of former American citizens that settled in Texas in the 1820s. This was due to the Mexican government supplying huge land grants to entice new settlers to Texas and secure its northern border from America. The Mexican government failed to realize the true impact that their persuasion of Americans for settlement would cause. In 1830, Mexico finally put a freeze on all American immigration due to the large number of American settlers and their certain revolution. In 1836, The Republic of Texas was established when General Santa Anna was forced to sign a treaty recognizing the independence of Texas. Southern slave owners quickly took interest in this land due to its rich soil that was great for cotton and settled there by the thousands. The South and Texans immediately wanted to annex the republic into the United States but the republics’ pro-slavery stance would not allow it until later. The annexation of Texas would cause controversy that continued for years because of the slavery issue. President Polk made the annexation of Texas one of his key stances in the election of 1844. Upon the election to President Polk imposed his imperialistic views on Congress and gained the majority he needed for the annexation of Texas into the United States. Former President Tyler had made a similar attempt at this but failed due to backing from his government. It was only seen as a last ditch effort to save face on his part. The annexation of Texas was only the start of Polk’s vision of a continental America. Texas’ annexation would soon cause controversy in Polk’s administration again with Mexico.

Soon after the annexation of Texas, Polk started to implement his expansion campaign slogan of, “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!” This referred to the latitude line that formed the northern border of the Oregon territory. The British and Americans had jointly occupied this territory ever since the Anglo-American convention in 1818. Polk’s desire for a true Pacific Ocean outlet and the willingness of the American people to fight for it put a huge amount of pressure on the British to resolve this issue peacefully. They proposed a treaty that stated the 49th parallel would form the border between British and American territory, which was a lot further south than Polk had initially desired during his campaign. Vancouver would also remain in the control of the British even though it was south of the 49th parallel. Polk’s decision to accept this treaty would anger many Americans, but it gave the United States a western seashore without the unnecessary loss of life. The United States portion of this region would soon form the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and part of Montana. Polk and his expansionist ambitions increased the size of the United States and supported America's political, moral, and strategic interests.

Polk would not have the same peaceful negotiations with Mexico over disputed land as he did with Great Britain. Though General Santa Anna signed a treaty recognizing Texas’ independence in 1836, both parties would dispute ownership of the land between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande until 1848. When the United States annexed Texas and stood behind its claim over the disputed land, the Mexican government became infuriated with America and broke off all diplomatic relations and