The Online Books Page

James K. Polk

(Polk, James K. (James Knox), 1795-1849)

 Object number: L/NPG.41.2006Exhibition Label: Eleventh president, 1845–1849 The life and career of James K. Polk reflected the country’s westward shift. His path followed the frontier as he moved from his birthplace in North Carolina to Tennessee. Polk, like most Americans in the nineteenth century, favored westward expansion and believed that settlers were destined to move across North America. As president, he acquired more than a million square miles of territory for the United States, in part by fomenting the Mexican-American War. As one of the most consequential presidents in American history, the vast expansion of territory opened up the question of slavery’s future, an issue that sparked conflict during the period leading up to the Civil War. Driven and determined, Polk took office with a limited agenda, accomplished all of it, and left office, as he planned, after only one term.
Image from Wikimedia Commons

James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and American expansionism. Polk saw Texas join the Union in his first year in office, one of the precipitating causes that soon led the U.S. into the Mexican–American War. The settlement of that war expanded American territory to the Pacific Ocean. During his term, the dispute over the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom was also resolved, creating the present U.S.-Canadian boundary. (From Wikipedia)

More about James K. Polk: Associated authors: Example of:		 

Books about James K. Polk -- Books by James K. Polk

Books about James K. Polk:

Filed under: Polk, James K. (James Knox), 1795-1849
31 additional books about James K. Polk in the extended shelves:

Books by James K. Polk:

Additional books by James K. Polk in the extended shelves:

Find more by James K. Polk at your library, or elsewhere.

Help with reading books -- Report a bad link -- Suggest a new listing

Home -- Search -- New Listings -- Authors -- Titles -- Subjects -- Serials

Books -- News -- Features -- Archives -- The Inside Story

Edited by John Mark Ockerbloom (onlinebooks@pobox.upenn.edu)
OBP copyrights and licenses.