Looking for patriotic-themed items, such as US flags, bunting, Uncle Sam items, or red, white and blue patriotic stuff? Check out our sister site, Great States of America!
James Knox Polk, the eleventh President of the United States, was committed to the concept of national expansion, or Manifest Destiny. He achieved the second-largest expansion of the country's land, acquiring the Oregon Territory (about 285,000 square miles), and purchasing more than 500,000 square miles of territory in the Southwest and California.
The expansion spurred national debate over whether slavery should be permitted in the new territories. The compromise of 1850 failed to address the problem adequately, and the slavery question was ultimately settled by the Civil War.
Among other accomplishments, Polk oversaw the groundbreaking for the Washington Monument, the opening of the U.S. Naval Academy and the Smithsonian Institution, and the issue of the first postage stamps.
Satisfied with his accomplishments as President, Polk did not seek re-election. He retired at the end of his term, and died of cholera three months later.