James K. Polk

Wilmot Proviso Triggers Sectional Crisis Over Slavery in Conquered Mexican Territory

1846-08-08 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

On August 8, 1846, amidst the Mexican-American War, Democratic Congressman David Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduces an amendment to President James Polk’s $2 million appropriation bill for purchasing territory from Mexico, boldly declaring that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude …

David Wilmot James K. Polk U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Senate Northern Democrats +1 more wilmot-proviso slavery-expansion sectional-conflict mexican-american-war territorial-expansion +1 more

Mexican-American War Begins as Deliberate Land Grab for Slavery Expansion

1846-05-13 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

President James K. Polk obtains a declaration of war against Mexico after deliberately provoking hostilities by sending American troops into disputed territory between the Nueces River (Mexico’s claimed boundary) and the Rio Grande (Texas’s claimed boundary) in January 1846. When Mexican …

James K. Polk U.S. Congress Mexico Whig Party opposition Abraham Lincoln mexican-american-war slavery-expansion land-grab manifest-destiny institutional-corruption +1 more

Polk Deceives Congress into War Declaration with False American Blood Claims

1846-05-11 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

President James K. Polk presented Congress with a war message on May 11, 1846, claiming that Mexico “has at last invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil” after Mexican forces killed or wounded 16 U.S. soldiers in disputed territory between the …

James K. Polk Zachary Taylor U.S. Congress Abraham Lincoln Whig Party institutional-capture political-deception executive-overreach territorial-expansion slave-power

Texas Annexed as Slave State Despite Nine Years of Antislavery Opposition

1845-03-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

Congress admits Texas to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845, following a nine-year political struggle that delayed annexation due to opposition from antislavery forces. The annexation represents a clear victory for Slave Power expansion: Texas arrives as a vast slave-holding region …

James K. Polk John Tyler John C. Calhoun U.S. Congress Mexico +1 more slavery-expansion texas-annexation manifest-destiny sectional-conflict institutional-corruption +1 more

Manifest Destiny Ideology Provides Racist Justification for Territorial Conquest and Indigenous Genocide

1845-01-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

John L. O’Sullivan coins the term “Manifest Destiny” in 1845 to describe the expansionist belief that American settlers are destined to expand westward across North America, and that this expansion is both obvious (manifest) and certain (destiny). The ideology is rooted in American …

John L. O'Sullivan James K. Polk U.S. government Indigenous peoples Anglo-American settlers manifest-destiny indigenous-genocide territorial-expansion white-nationalism ideology +1 more