June 23, 2006

• Interesting FPP. What caused it? Was it specific to Iraq policy, or just a historical interest? In his stand on Oregon, the President seemed to be risking war with Great Britain also. The 1844 Democratic platform claimed the entire Oregon area, from the California boundary northward to a latitude of 54'40', the southern boundary of Russian Alaska. Extremists proclaimed "Fifty-four forty or fight," but Polk, aware of diplomatic realities, knew that no course short of war was likely to get all of Oregon. Happily, neither he nor the British wanted a war. Yeah! F@#kin' limeys!! *prospector gibberish*
• He was James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump!
• Born about 40 years before Harriet the Tortoise. Died when Harriet was about 19.
• he is the only president other than current ones that i know anything about, thanks to the TMBG song... Young Hickory, indeed.
• Bees puts it into perspective.
• Actually, I just stumbled on the YouTube video and remembered what a strange song it is. It got me reading actually about the dude and compaing the situation then to now. US military actions after WWII seems so complicated and the reasons so nuanced by comparison. I am not saying that American expansion across the continent was a good thing, but at least you could understand it!
• Just to clarify, I am not trying to start a discussion of the various post WWII US military actions, just pointing out that none seem to me to be as simple as taking Texas from Mexico. It sounds like it was sold to the public as exactly what it was.
• Polkaroo! Polkaroo! I always wondered where that "54'40 or fight" thing came from.
• Interesting, I was thinking about how it was sold to the public and how similar it was too - only the arguments and/or mindset against "Manifest Destiny" just weren't around. I mean I'm not against genocide or environmental devastation per se, I'm just saying a vigorous, healthy debate of a well informed public just wasn't there.
• Like all good stories, this one is not without its share of bizarre turns.
• "...Even before he could take office, Congress passed a joint..." That explains a lot.
• I've learned lots of random facts from TMBG songs. My other favorite is "Meet James Ensor" about the artist, which I couldn't resist singing in a museum the first time I saw one of his paintings in a museum. Here is a link to a you tube fan video of the song. I have no idea how the cartoon video matches the song, but the audio is good.
• He's my uncle of sorts -- distantly of course. My family's descended through his brother. Along with our helping to found Valdosta, Geo., he's the family claim to fame. Heh.
• I never knew that the British held Oregon -- and they were stupid to have sold it. North America (aka Canada and Mexico) would be so much better off if Canada held Oregon and Mexico had the southwest. Canada would share a border with Mexico and be strong trading partners, and both of them could play more equally with the US. So James Polk was a horrible man. (And the British were stupid.) And the 54/40 was a horrible horrible policy - you wanted to steal British Columbia!
• Who woulden't want to?
• If we'd stolen British Columbia, we'd have had to pick a new name for it. And we couldn't have called it just "Columbia," because we'd have gotten it mixed up with the District of Columbia or the Republic of Great Columbia. "American Columbia?" Nah. I think they'd have called it Polksylvania.
• We could have kept it Columbia, maybe. We already have two Washingtons, so we must like being slightly confused a lot :)
• West Petebestland
• just pointing out that none seem to me to be as simple as taking Texas from Mexico. It sounds like it was sold to the public as exactly what it was Actually, it wasn't. The US claimed that the border was at the Rio Grande, and Mexico claimed the border was at the Nueces River. The US had recognized the Nueces River as the border from 1819 to 1845, when the border was set at the Rio Grande by the Treaties of Velasco that ended the Texas Revolution. Mexico never recognized the treaties or the Republic of Texas because Santa Anna was under coercion and a prisoner when he signed them. Polk sent troops into the disputed area between the rivers in January 1846. They built a fort, and there was a skirmish on April 24, 1846. Polk asked Congress to declare war because Mexico "invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil," and Congress declared war on May 13. Most Whigs opposed the war, including Abraham Lincoln, who was a first-term Congressman. His Spot Resolutions questioned the legitimacy of the war and called on President Polk to identify the exact spot on American soil that American blood was shed. Former President John Quincy Adams opposed the war as a way to find "bigger pens to cram with slaves." (Texas was a slave state, and its desire for slavery was one of the causes of the Texas Revolution.) Henry David Thoreau wrote "Civil Disobedience" to explain his opposition to the war.