[Answer] How did James K. Polk contribute to the expansion of the United States?

Answer: He gained territory during the Mexican American war

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How did James K. Polk contribute to the expansion of the United States? James Knox Polk (November 2 1795 – June 15 1849) was the 11th president of the United States serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839–1841). A protégé of Andrew Jackson he was a member of the Democratic Party and an advocate of Jacksonian democracy. Polk is chiefly known for extending the territo… James Knox Polk (November 2 1795 – June 15 1849) was the 11th president of the United States serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839–1841). A protégé of Andrew Jackson he was a member of the Democratic Party and an advocate of Jacksonian democracy. Polk is chiefly known for extending the territory of the United States through the Mexican–American War; during his presidency the United States expanded significantly with the annexation of the Republic of Texas the Oregon Territory and the Mexican Cession following the American victory in the Mexican–American War. After building a successful law practice in Tennessee Polk was elected to the state legislature in 1823 and then to the United States House of Representatives in 1825 becoming a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson. After serving as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee he became Speaker of the House in 1835 the only president to have been speaker. Polk left Congress to run for governor of Tennessee; he won in 1839 but lost in 1841 and 1843. He was a dark horse candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 1844; he entered his party's convention as a potential nominee for vice president but emerged as a compromise to head the ticket when no presidential candidate could secure the necessary two-thirds majority. In the general election Polk defeated Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party. Historians have praised Polk for having met during his four-year term every major domestic and foreign policy goal he had set. After a negotiation fraught with risk of war he reached a settlement with Great Britain over the disputed Oregon Country the territory for the most part being divided along the 49th parallel. He provoked a war with Mexico in an attempt to expand the nation and succeeded in doing so as it resulted in Mexico's cession of nearly all the American Southwest. He secured a substantial reduction of tariff ra… Read more on Wikipedia James Knox Polk was born on November 2 1795 in a log cabin in Pineville North Carolina . He was the first of 10 children born into a family of farmers. His mother Jane named him after her father James Knox. His father Samuel Polk was a farmer slaveholder and surveyor of Scots-Irish descent. The Polks had immigrated to America in the late 1600s settling initially on the Eastern Shore of … James Knox Polk was born on November 2 1795 in a log cabin in Pineville North Carolina . He was the first of 10 children born into a family of farmers. His mother Jane named him after her father James Knox. His father Samuel Polk was a farmer slaveholder and surveyor of Scots-Irish descent. The Polks had immigrated to America in the late 1600s settling initially on the Eastern Shore of Maryland but later moving to south-central Pennsylvania and then to the Carolina hill country. The Knox and Polk families were Presbyterian . While Polk's mother remained a devout Presbyterian his father whose own father Ezekiel Polk was a deist rejected dogmatic Presbyterianism. He refused to declare his belief in Christianity at his son's baptism and the minister refused to baptize young James. Nevertheless James' mother "stamped her rigid orthodoxy on James instilling lifelong Calvinistic traits of self-discipline hard work piety individualism and a belief in the imperfection of human nature" according to James A. Rawley s American National Biography article. In 1803 Ezekiel Polk led four of his adult children and their families to the Duck River area in what is now Maury County Tennessee ; Samuel Polk and his family followed in 1806. The Polk clan dominated politics in Maury County and in the new town of Columbia . Samuel became a county judge and the guests at his home included Andrew Jackson who had already served as a judge and in Congress. James learned from the political talk around the dinner table; both Samuel and Ezekiel were strong supporters of President Thomas Jefferson and opponents of the Federalist Party . Read more on Wikipedia Presidency of James K. Polk - Wikipedia ...

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