Texas elected Sam Houston their first President. He asked the US to annex Texas!
- Northern reaction to request was not positive. They did not want another slave state to enter the US
Election of 1844 and the Expansion Issue
- James K. Polk-
- Jacksonian Democratic candidate from Tennessee who supported southern expansion into Texas
- Henry Clay-
- Whig candidate who opposed annexation of Texas
- Who won and why???
- Polk won because he believed the north would support annexation of Texas if they got their own reward.
- He promised the north that he would acquire the Oregon territory from Great Britain if elected.
Polk Compromise on Oregon-
- Agreement with Britain- There was a compromise with GB. Instead of the US acquiring all of the Oregon territory, it was split at the 49th latitude line
- The future states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho would come from this land
- Reason for Compromise- Polk compromised with GB because he could not afford (financially or militarily) to fight two wars at the same time. A war with both Mexico and GB would not be wise.
- Polk preferred to fight a weak Mexico rather than GB
