James K. Polk Wilmont Proviso 54/40 or Fight Manifest Destiny Mexican – American War California Gold Rush

Wilmont Proviso On August 8, 1846, Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman David Wilmot introduced an explosive bill that brought the slavery issue to a head. This "Wilmot Proviso" asserted "neither slavery not involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of" the territory acquired from Mexico.

Southern supporters, rallied around John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. Calhoun had formulated "the southern rights position" to the Wilmot Proviso, affirming the rights of slave owners to transport their "human chattel" anywhere in the territories of the United States. Polk, on the other hand, endorsed the idea of extending the old Missouri Compromise line of 36'30' to the Pacific Ocean.

54/40 or Fight Annexation of Texas - Texas came into the union as the fifteenth slave state in December Oregon - Eager to satisfy northeastern voters angry over the quick inclusion of a new slave state, Polk moved quickly to acquire sole title to Oregon. He had said in his campaign slogan that he was willing to fight the British for the full extent of the land mass between the 54th and 40th parallels.

Both England and America had jointly occupied this region since 1818, and it was clear that Polk wanted it all for the United States, possibly even including Mexican- controlled California. In the end, Polk compromised rather than fight the British, accepting (in June 1846) only the American-settled region below the Columbia River -- present-day Oregon and Washington, or roughly below the 49th parallel.

Manifest Destiny In 1845 John L. O'Sullivan, editor of the Democratic Review, referred in his magazine to America's "Manifest Destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions." One of the most influential slogans ever coined, "manifest destiny" expressed the romantic emotion that led Americans to risk their lives to settle the Far West.

The idea that America had a special destiny to stretch across the continent motivated many people to migrate West. The very idea of manifest destiny encouraged men and women to dream big dreams. "We Americans," wrote Herman Melville, one of this country's greatest novelists, "are the peculiar, chosen people--the Israel of our time.“

Mexican – American War England had been discussing with Mexico for months about the possibility of buying California. Polk moved troops into the disputed territory near the Rio Grande and sent a special envoy to Mexico with the offer to buy California and New Mexico as well as to settle the disputed border claims with cash.

Their arrival in Mexico triggered a revolt against the Mexican president -- who had indicated a willingness to settle the dispute -- by a coup of army officers who pledged to recover the "stolen province of Mexico.“

Polk responded by sending General Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande with four thousand American soldiers. When Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande and killed eleven U.S. soldiers, Polk sent a declaration of war to Congress on May 11, Within seven months, the United States completely defeated the much larger Mexican army.

With Mexico literally on its knees, Polk sent his diplomat, Nicholas Trist, to negotiate the terms of Mexican surrender by yet a new government that had overthrown Santa Anna after his loss of Mexico City. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, which authorized U.S. payment of $15 million for California, New Mexico, and a Texas border on the Rio Grande. The treaty reduced by 50 percent the size of Mexico, and increased by one-fourth the size of the United States.

California Gold Rush The Rush Begins 1848, gold discovered at Sutter’s Mill in California Sierra Nevadas San Francisco residents abandon city to pan for gold Gold rush, or migration of prospectors to California in 1849 Forty-niners, gold prospectors, come from Asia, South America, Europe

Impact of Gold Fever San Francisco becomes supply center for miners, major port Gold Rush Brings Diversity Chinese, free blacks, Mexicans migrate in large numbers Slavery permitted until outlawed by 1849 constitutional convention California joins Union in 1850