JAMES K. POLK.

FROM 1845 to 1849.

DURATION. - One term,-four years.

PARTY. - Democratic.

PRINCIPAL EVENTS.-War with Mexico on account of the annexation of Texas (ceded to Spain in 1819). Gen. Taylor moves to the Rio Grande; overcomes Gen. Arista at Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and Matamoras. Monterey surrenders. Gen. Wool leads the army against Chihuahua. Saltillo and Tampico taken. Gen. Scott enters Vera Cruz. Retreat of Santa Anna from Buena Vista, notwithstanding his force of twenty-five thousand strong against five thousand under Taylor, Worth, Wool, Quitman, Butler, &c. Gen. Kearny enters Santa Fé, the capital of New Mexico. Capt. John C. Frémont, near San Francisco, on his Oregon exploring-expedition, hearing of the war, raises the American flag, July 5, 1846, and declares the independence of that Territory. Coms. Sloat and Stockton, two days after, assert the independence of Monterey. Com. Stockton and Capt. Frémont at once co-operate, and conquer Upper California. Expedition against Chihuahua, under Col. Doniphan, at the Sacramento Pass, Feb. 28, 1847. Gen. Scott and Com. Perry capture Vera Cruz; and the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa surrenders, March 29, 1847. On his march towards the city of Mexico, Gen. Scott meets Santa Anna at Cerro Gordo, and again defeats him. Puebla falls, also Contreras and Churubusco. Gen. Worth assaults Molino del Rey, and takes it; also the Castle

of Chapultepec, the last stronghold of the capital; and Sept. 14, 1847, the American army enters the city of Mexico. Treaty closed at Guadalupe Hidalgo. Peace proclaimed by Pres. Polk, July 4, 1848. Mexico is promised fifteen million dollars, and her debts to American citizens of three millions. Cause of the war charged on Calhoun by Benton; the former having been a member of Monroe's cabinet, as Secretary of War, in 1819, "when Texas was given away." Oregon question settled with England, 1846. "The Globe," published at Washington, superseded as the administration organ, and "The Daily Union” substituted. Benton says, "It was paid for out of public money by a treasury order for fifty thousand dollars." Florida, Iowa, and Wisconsin admitted, as well as Texas. Vast gold-discov. eries in California. FREESOIL PARTY organized in view of the proposed extension of slavery into California, Utah, and New Mexico. The Wilmot Proviso, "that no part of the territory to be acquired shall be open to the introduction of slavery," opposed by Mr. Calhoun's slavery resolutions, denying the right of Congress to prohibit slavery in any Territory. Great slavery agitation. Daniel Webster replies to Calhoun. Disunion proposed by South Carolina and Mississippi. Gen. Zachary Taylor elected President.

1845.- March 4. Extracts from Inaugural: "Fellow-citizens, without, solicitation on my part, I have been chosen, by the free and voluntary suffrages of my countrymen, to the most honorable and most responsible office on earth.

...

With a firm reliance upon the wisdom of Omnipotence to sustain and direct me in the path of duty which I

am appointed to pursue, I stand in the presence of this assembled multitude to take upon myself the solemn obligations, to the best of my ability, to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. .. The government of the United States is one of delegated and limited powers; and it is by a strict adherence to the clearly-granted powers, and by abstaining from the exercise of doubtful or unauthorized implied powers, that we have the only sure guaranty against the recurrence of those unfortunate collisions between the Federal and State authorities which have occasionally so much disturbed the harmony of our system, and even threatened the perpetuity of our glorious Union. . . . Each State is a complete sovereignty within the sphere of its reserved powers. The government of the Union, acting within the sphere of its delegated authority, is also a complete sovereignty. While the General Government should abstain from the exercise of authority not clearly delegated to it, the States should be equally careful, that, in the maintenance of their rights, they do not overstep the limits of powers reserved to them. . . . The inestimable

...

value of our Federal Union is felt and acknowl

edged by all. By this system of united and confederated States, our people are permitted, collectively and individually, to seek their own happiness in their own way; and the consequences have been most auspicious. Since the Union was formed, the number of the States has increased from thirteen to twenty-eight: our population has increased from three to twenty millions. New communities and States are seeking protection under its ægis, and multitudes from the Old World are flocking to our shores to participate in its blessings. Beneath its benign sway, peace and prosperity prevail. Freed from the burdens and miseries of war, our trade and intercourse have extended throughout the world. . . . Genius is free to announce its inventions and discoveries; and the hand is free to accomplish whatever the head conceives, not incompatible with the rights of a fellow-being. All distinctions of birth or of rank have been abolished. All citizens, whether native or adopted, are placed upon terms of precise equality. All are entitled to equal rights and equal protection. No union exists between

...

...

I am

Church and State; and perfect freedom of opinion is guaranteed to all sects and creeds. happy to believe, that, at every period of our existence as a nation, there has existed, and continues to exist, among the great mass of our people, a devotion to the union of the States, which will shield and protect it against the moral treason of any one who would seriously contemplate its destruction.

A national debt has become almost an institution of European monarchies. It is viewed, in some of them, as an essential prop to existing governments. Melancholy is the condition of that people whose government can be sustained only by a system which periodically transfers large amounts from the labor of the many to the coffers of the few. Such a system is incompatible with the ends for which our republican government was instituted. Under a wise policy, the debts contracted in our Revolution, and during the war of 1812, have been happily extinguished. . . . In levying a tariff of duties for the support of government, the raising of revenue should be the object, and protection the incident. It is confidently believed that our system of annexation