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144-670: He held considerable influence in Tammany Hall for twenty-five years and was credited for delivering New York to James K. Polk and securing his election as President of the United States. He was similarly successful in the presidential elections of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan , the latter appointing him U.S. Marshal of the Southern District of New York. Although Rynders Street (now part of Centre Street )

288-465: A $ 100 reward for the citizen that would first lay violent hands on him. Thompson canceled at the last minute, and Wm. Lloyd Garrison , editor and publisher of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator , was quickly scheduled to speak in his place. A lynch mob formed, forcing Garrison to escape through the back of the hall and hide in a carpenter's shop. The mob soon found him, putting a noose around his neck to drag him away. Several strong men, including

432-636: A Godly Commonwealth through a pursuit of Christian morality and justice, however, was the main influence on Phillips's nationalism. He favored getting rid of American slavery by letting the slave states secede, and he sought to amalgamate all the American "races". Thus, it was the moral end which mattered most in Phillips's nationalism. As Northern victory in the Civil War seemed more imminent, Phillips, like many other abolitionists, turned his attention to

576-605: A book detailing fictional travels through the South of a Baron von Roorback, an imaginary German nobleman. The Ithaca Chronicle printed it without labeling it as fiction, and inserted a sentence alleging that the traveler had seen forty slaves who had been sold by Polk after being branded with his initials. The item was withdrawn by the Chronicle when challenged by the Democrats, but it was widely reprinted. Borneman suggested that

720-592: A candidate for the first time. In the mid-1862, Phillips's nephew, Samuel D. Phillips, died at Port Royal, South Carolina , where he had gone to take part in the so-called Port Royal Experiment to assist the slave population there in the transition to freedom. Phillips was also an early advocate of women's rights. In 1840 he led the unsuccessful effort at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London to have America's women delegates seated. In

864-454: A chord with Tennessee voters. On election day in August 1841, Polk was defeated by 3,000 votes, the first time he had been beaten at the polls. Polk returned to Columbia and the practice of law and prepared for a rematch against Jones in 1843, but though the new governor took less of a joking tone, it made little difference to the outcome, as Polk was beaten again, this time by 3,833 votes. In

1008-743: A eulogy. Irish poet and journalist John Boyle O'Reilly , who was a good friend of Phillips, wrote the poem Wendell Phillips in his honor. In 1904, the Chicago Public Schools opened Wendell Phillips High School in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the south side of Chicago in Phillips's honor. In July 1915, a monument was erected in Boston Public Garden to commemorate Phillips, inscribed with his words: "Whether in chains or in laurels, liberty knows nothing but victories." Jonathan Harr's "A Civil Action" refers to

1152-409: A freshman legislator from frontier Wilson County , James C. Jones against Polk in 1841. "Lean Jimmy" had proven one of their most effective gadflies against Polk, and his lighthearted tone at campaign debates was very effective against the serious Polk. The two debated the length of Tennessee, and Jones's support of distribution to the states of surplus federal revenues, and of a national bank, struck

1296-788: A member of the Democratic Party , he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and extending the territory of the United States. Polk led the U.S. into the Mexican–American War , and after winning the war he annexed the Republic of Texas , the Oregon Territory , and the Mexican Cession . After building a successful law practice in Tennessee , Polk was elected to its state legislature in 1823 and then to

1440-569: A member of the Masons , he was commissioned in the Tennessee militia as a captain in the cavalry regiment of the 5th Brigade. He was later appointed a colonel on the staff of Governor William Carroll , and was afterwards often referred to as "Colonel". Although many of the voters were members of the Polk clan, the young politician campaigned energetically. People liked Polk's oratory, which earned him

1584-796: A monument, in Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts , which he felt would help the abolitionist cause. He spoke at the funeral and on the way home, repeated his speech the next night to a wildly enthusiastic audience in Vergennes, Vermont . On the eve of the Civil War, Phillips gave a speech at the New Bedford Lyceum in which he defended the Confederate States' right to secede: A large body of people, sufficient to make

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1728-492: A nation, have come to the conclusion that they will have a government of a certain form. Who denies them the right? Standing with the principles of '76 behind us, who can deny them the right? ...I maintain on the principles of '76 that Abraham Lincoln has no right to a soldier in Fort Sumter . ...You can never make such a war popular. ...The North never will endorse such a war." In 1860 and 1861, many abolitionists welcomed

1872-668: A national controversy between abolitionists and anti-abolitionists. At Faneuil Hall, Massachusetts attorney general James T. Austin defended the pro-slavery mob, comparing their actions to 1776 patriots who fought against the British and declaring that Lovejoy "died as the fool dieth!" The married couple went abroad in 1839 for two years. They spent the summer in Great Britain and the rest of each year in mainland Europe. They made important connections and Ann wrote of them meeting Elizabeth Pease and being particularly impressed by

2016-558: A network of saloons and gambling parlors which supported his political club and generated revenue for Tammany Hall. He originally operated from Sweeney's House of Refreshment , an Ann Street tavern popular with volunteer firefighters , before founding the Empire Club in 1843. The Park Row clubhouse quickly became the political hub of the Sixth Ward and, through a heavy campaign of voter intimidation and election fraud , he

2160-444: A new candidate who might break the stalemate. When the convention adjourned after the seventh ballot, Pillow, who had been waiting for an opportunity to press Polk's name, conferred with George Bancroft of Massachusetts, a politician and historian and longtime Polk correspondent, who had planned to nominate Polk for vice president. Bancroft had supported Van Buren's candidacy and was willing to see New York Senator Silas Wright head

2304-543: A promising student. In January 1816, Polk was admitted into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a second-semester sophomore. The Polk family had connections with the university, then a small school of about 80 students; Samuel was its land agent in Tennessee and his cousin William Polk was a trustee. Polk's roommate was William Dunn Moseley , who became the first Governor of Florida. Polk joined

2448-467: A reformer who was as bold as a lion, who had reformed a great wrong, and who had left a rejuvenated Constitution. On February 8, in the U.S. House of Representatives , John F. Finerty offered resolutions of respect to the memory of Phillips. William W. Eaton objected to the resolutions. A memorial event was held in Tremont Temple , Boston, on April 9, 1884. Archibald Grimké delivered

2592-579: A settlement with Great Britain over the disputed Oregon Country , with the territory for the most part divided along the 49th parallel . He oversaw victory in the Mexican–American War, resulting in Mexico 's cession of the entire American Southwest . He secured a substantial reduction of tariff rates with the Walker tariff of 1846. The same year, he achieved his other major goal, reestablishment of

2736-590: A slender victory in the popular vote, but with a greater victory in the Electoral College (170–105), Polk proceeded to implement his campaign promises. He presided over a country whose population had doubled every twenty years since the American Revolution and which had reached demographic parity with Great Britain . During Polk's tenure, technological advancements persisted, including the continued expansion of railroads and increased use of

2880-400: A strong supporter. Polk was aided regarding Texas when Clay, realizing his anti-annexation letter had cost him support, attempted in two subsequent letters to clarify his position. These angered both sides, which attacked Clay as insincere. Texas also threatened to divide the Democrats sectionally, but Polk managed to appease most Southern party leaders without antagonizing Northern ones. As

3024-477: A third two-year term as governor. The fact that Polk was the one called upon to "redeem" Tennessee from the Whigs tacitly acknowledged him as head of the state Democratic Party. Polk campaigned on national issues, whereas Cannon stressed state issues. After being bested by Polk in the early debates, the governor retreated to Nashville, the state capital, alleging important official business. Polk made speeches across

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3168-442: A time when opponents of Texas annexation argued that it would give slavery more room to spread, Clay sought a nuanced position on the issue. Jackson, who strongly supported a Van Buren/Polk ticket, was delighted when Clay issued a letter for publication in the newspapers opposing Texas annexation, only to be devastated when he learned Van Buren had done the same thing. Van Buren did this because he feared losing his base of support in

3312-434: A trust at once develops character and intellect, and goes far to afford the hitherto mission and indispensable motive to education. Next in order of importance and time, comes the ballot. So it has always been with all disfranchised classes; first property—then political influence and rights; the first prepares for, gives weight to, challenges, finally secures the second. In 1849 and 1850, he assisted Lucy Stone in conducting

3456-528: A world power, but with divisions between free and slave states gravely exacerbated, setting the stage for the Civil War . 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

3600-679: Is ahead of William Lloyd Garrison and Charles Sumner . From 1850 to 1865 he was the "preeminent figure" in American abolitionism. Phillips was born in Boston , Massachusetts, on November 29, 1811, to Sarah Walley and John Phillips , a wealthy lawyer, politician, and philanthropist, who was the first mayor of Boston. He was a descendant of Reverend George Phillips , who emigrated from England to Watertown, Massachusetts , in 1630. All of his ancestors migrated to North America from England , and all of them arrived in Massachusetts between

3744-668: Is madness. The trial of fifty years only proves that it is impossible for free and slave States to unite on any terms, without all becoming partners in the guilt and responsible for the sin of slavery. Why prolong the experiment? Let every honest man join in the outcry of the American Anti-Slavery Society. (Quoted in Ruchames, The Abolitionists p. 196) On December 8, 1837, in Boston's Faneuil Hall , Phillips' leadership and oratory established his preeminence within

3888-571: Is sometimes said to have been named in his honor, the street name was in use as early as 1794, prior to his birth. Although nominally loyal to Tammany for the majority of his career, his Empire Club heading the fight against the nativist Know Nothing movement for over a decade, Rynders aligned himself with the Know Nothings for a brief period during the 1850s. This eventually brought him into conflict with his former protégé John Morrissey who would eventually replace him as political boss of

4032-563: The Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. Polk formed a geographically balanced Cabinet. He consulted Jackson and one or two other close allies, and decided that the large states of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia should have representation in the six-member Cabinet, as should his home state of Tennessee. At a time when an incoming president might retain some or all of his predecessor's department heads, Polk wanted an entirely fresh Cabinet, but this proved delicate. Tyler's final Secretary of State

4176-742: The Atlantic Guards and the Bowery Boys . Rynders was alleged to have been involved in instigating the Astor Place Riot in 1849. He later made trips to Philadelphia , Baltimore and New Orleans where he advised local Democratic leaders on Tammany-style machine politics. By the end of the decade, he was considered to be the de facto leader of the Five Points street gangs and was often requested by authorities to use his influence to cease rioting and gang-related violence which

4320-471: The Democratic Party nominee; 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 gain the necessary two-thirds majority. In the general election, Polk narrowly defeated Henry Clay of the Whig Party and pledged to serve only one term. After a negotiation fraught with the risk of war, Polk reached

4464-591: The Dialectic Society where he took part in debates, became its president, and learned the art of oratory. In one address, he warned that some American leaders were flirting with monarchical ideals, singling out Alexander Hamilton , a foe of Jefferson. Polk graduated with honors in May 1818. After graduation, Polk returned to Nashville, Tennessee to study law under renowned trial attorney Felix Grundy , who became his first mentor. On September 20, 1819, he

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4608-663: 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

4752-476: The Federalist Party . Polk suffered from frail health as a child, a particular disadvantage in a frontier society. His father took him to see prominent Philadelphia physician Dr. Philip Syng Physick for urinary stones. The journey was broken off by James's severe pain, and Dr. Ephraim McDowell of Danville, Kentucky , operated to remove them. No anesthetic was available except brandy. The operation

4896-675: The Fifteenth Amendment also granted citizenship to Indians. He proposed that the Andrew Johnson administration create a cabinet-level post that would guarantee Indian rights. Phillips helped create the Massachusetts Indian Commission with Indian rights activist Helen Hunt Jackson and Massachusetts governor William Claflin . Although publicly critical of President Ulysses S. Grant 's drinking, he worked with Grant's second administration on

5040-515: The Independent Treasury system. True to his campaign pledge to serve one term (one of the few U.S. presidents to make and keep such a pledge), Polk left office in 1849 and returned to Tennessee, where he died of cholera soon afterward. Though he is relatively obscure today, scholars have ranked Polk in the upper tier of American presidents, mostly for his ability to promote and achieve the major items on his presidential agenda. At

5184-571: The Lakota (Sioux). During the 1870s, Phillips arranged public forums for reformer Alfred B. Meacham and Indians affected by the country's Indian removal policy, including the Ponca chief Standing Bear , and the Omaha writer and speaker Susette LaFlesche Tibbles . By late January 1884, Phillips was suffering from heart disease . Phillips delivered his last public address on January 26, 1884, over

5328-618: The Panic of 1837 , the economy. Polk firmly enforced the " gag rule ", by which the House of Representatives would not accept or debate citizen petitions regarding slavery. This ignited fierce protests from John Quincy Adams, who was by then a congressman from Massachusetts and an abolitionist. Instead of finding a way to silence Adams, Polk frequently engaged in useless shouting matches, leading Jackson to conclude that Polk should have shown better leadership. Van Buren and Polk faced pressure to rescind

5472-581: The Sabine River border between the U.S. and Texas deemed it inevitable that Texas would join the United States, but this would anger Mexico, which considered Texas a breakaway province, and threatened war if the United States annexed it. Jackson, as president, had recognized Texas independence, but the initial momentum toward annexation had stalled. Britain was seeking to expand her influence in Texas: Britain had abolished slavery, and if Texas did

5616-535: The Specie Circular , Jackson's 1836 order that payment for government lands be in gold and silver. Some believed this had led to the crash by causing a lack of confidence in paper currency issued by banks. Despite such arguments, with support from Polk and his cabinet, Van Buren chose to back the Specie Circular. Polk and Van Buren attempted to establish an Independent Treasury system that would allow

5760-548: The United States House of Representatives in 1825, becoming a strong supporter of Jackson. After serving as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee , he became Speaker of the House in 1835, the only person to serve both as Speaker and U.S. president. Polk left Congress to run for governor of Tennessee , winning in 1839 but losing in 1841 and 1843. He was a dark-horse candidate in the 1844 presidential election as

5904-653: The mayor , intervened and took him to the most secure place in Boston, the Leverett Street Jail . Phillips, watching from nearby Court Street , was a witness to the attempted lynching. After being converted to the abolitionist cause by Garrison in 1836, Phillips stopped practicing law in order to dedicate himself to the movement. Phillips joined the American Anti-Slavery Society and frequently made speeches at its meetings. So highly regarded were Phillips' oratorical abilities that he

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6048-566: The presidential elections of 1852 and 1856 respectively, and was appointed by Buchanan as U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York in 1857. On June 9, 1854, Rynders married 20-year-old Phoebe Shotwell, the last surviving child of real estate mogul John Shotwell and Phoebe Byron, in Washington, D.C. For a brief time during this period, he renamed his political organization the Americus Club and switched his allegiances to

6192-461: The " Bank War " that developed over Jackson's opposition to the re-authorization of the Second Bank of the United States . The Second Bank, headed by Nicholas Biddle of Philadelphia, not only held federal dollars but controlled much of the credit in the United States, as it could present currency issued by local banks for redemption in gold or silver. Some Westerners, including Jackson, opposed

6336-442: The 1839 election. In 1835, the Democrats had lost the governorship of Tennessee for the first time in their history, and Polk decided to return home to help the party. Tennessee was afire for White and Whiggism; the state had reversed its political loyalties since the days of Jacksonian domination. As head of the state Democratic Party, Polk undertook his first statewide campaign, He opposed Whig incumbent Newton Cannon , who sought

6480-472: The Adams administration. He remained in close touch with Jackson, and when Jackson ran for president in 1828 , Polk was an advisor on his campaign. Following Jackson's victory over Adams, Polk became one of the new President's most prominent and loyal supporters. Working on Jackson's behalf, Polk successfully opposed federally-funded " internal improvements " such as a proposed Buffalo-to-New Orleans road, and he

6624-897: The Alabama line, and extensive electioneering was expected of the five candidates. Polk campaigned so vigorously that Sarah began to worry about his health. During the campaign, Polk's opponents said that at the age of 29 Polk was too young for the responsibility of a seat in the House, but he won the election with 3,669 votes out of 10,440 and took his seat in Congress later that year. When Polk arrived in Washington, D.C. for Congress's regular session in December 1825, he roomed in Benjamin Burch's boarding house with other Tennessee representatives, including Sam Houston . Polk made his first major speech on March 13, 1826, in which he said that

6768-677: The Amendment–Impeach the President." As Radical Republicans in Congress broke with Johnson and pursued their own Reconstruction policies through the Freedmen's Bureau bills and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 , their views converged increasingly with Phillips'. However, most congressional Republicans disagreed with his assertion that "suffrage is nothing but a name because the voter has not...an acre from which he could retire from

6912-640: The Cabinet, that he knew would be shown to Tyler, stating that the President's supporters would be welcomed back into the Democratic fold. Jackson wrote that once Tyler withdrew, many Democrats would embrace him for his pro-annexation stance. The former president also used his influence to stop Francis Preston Blair and his Globe newspaper, the semi-official organ of the Democratic Party, from attacking Tyler. These proved enough; Tyler withdrew from

7056-725: The Electoral College should be abolished and that the president should be elected by popular vote. Remaining bitter at the alleged Corrupt Bargain between Adams and Clay, Polk became a vocal critic of the Adams administration , frequently voting against its policies. Sarah Polk remained at home in Columbia during her husband's first year in Congress, but accompanied him to Washington beginning in December 1826; she assisted him with his correspondence and came to hear James's speeches. Polk won re-election in 1827 and continued to oppose

7200-570: The Hermitage , near Nashville, was horrified at the prospect of a Whig administration. In the 1840 election, Polk received one vote from a faithless elector in the Electoral College 's vote for vice president. Harrison's death after a month in office in 1841 left the presidency to Vice President John Tyler , who soon broke with the Whigs. Polk's three major programs during his governorship; regulating state banks, implementing state internal improvements, and improving education all failed to win

7344-466: The Hermitage and the other a shrewd lifelong politician waiting expectantly in Columbia". Whigs mocked Polk with the chant "Who is James K. Polk?", affecting never to have heard of him. Though he had experience as Speaker of the House and Governor of Tennessee, all previous presidents had served as vice president, Secretary of State, or as a high-ranking general. Polk has been described as the first " dark horse " presidential nominee, although his nomination

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7488-404: The House in December 1837, he won by only 13 votes, and he foresaw defeat in 1839. Polk by then had presidential ambitions but was well aware that no Speaker of the House had ever become president (Polk is still the only one to have held both offices). After seven terms in the House, two as speaker, he announced that he would not seek re-election, choosing instead to run for Governor of Tennessee in

7632-741: The House of Representatives, Polk approached the zenith of his congressional career. He was at the center of Jacksonian Democracy on the House floor, and, with the help of his wife, he ingratiated himself into Washington's social circles." The prestige of the speakership caused them to move from a boarding house to their own residence on Pennsylvania Avenue. In the 1836 presidential election , Vice President Martin Van Buren , Jackson's chosen successor, defeated multiple Whig candidates, including Tennessee Senator Hugh Lawson White . Greater Whig strength in Tennessee helped White carry his state, though Polk's home district went for Van Buren. Ninety percent of Tennessee voters had supported Jackson in 1832, but many in

7776-432: The House. In that position, Polk supported Jackson's withdrawal of federal funds from the Second Bank. Polk's committee issued a report questioning the Second Bank's finances and another supporting Jackson's actions against it. In April 1834, the Ways and Means Committee reported a bill to regulate state deposit banks, which, when passed, enabled Jackson to deposit funds in pet banks , and Polk got legislation passed to allow

7920-424: The July 3, 1846, issue of The Liberator he called for securing women's rights to their property and earnings as well as to the ballot. He wrote: I have always thought that the first right restored to woman would be that of the full and unfettered control of all her property and earnings, whether she were married or unmarried. This, too, is, in one sense, the most important to be secured. The responsibility of such

8064-462: The Know Nothings causing a deep rift between him and his Irish supporters, most notably his protégé John Morrissey . This decision would lead to his downfall as the political boss of the Sixth Ward when, during the Dead Rabbits Riot in 1857, he was attacked and pelted with rocks while attempting to persuade the warring gangsters to cease fighting. His reputation suffered considerably after this point and Morrissey eventually replaced Rynders as head of

8208-467: The Northeast, but his supporters in the old Southwest were stunned at his action. Polk, on the other hand, had written a pro-annexation letter that had been published four days before Van Buren's. Jackson wrote sadly to Van Buren that no candidate who opposed annexation could be elected, and decided Polk was the best person to head the ticket. Jackson met with Polk at the Hermitage on May 13, 1844, and explained to his visitor that only an expansionist from

8352-500: The Panic of 1837—he had refused to rescind the Specie Circular—aroused opposition from some in the West (today's Midwestern United States ) who believed his hard money policies had hurt their section of the country. Many Southerners backed Calhoun's candidacy, Westerners rallied around Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan, and former Vice President Johnson also maintained a strong following among Democrats. Jackson assured Van Buren by letter that Polk in his campaigns for governor had "fought

8496-417: The President sought to assert federal authority. Polk condemned secession and supported the Force Bill against South Carolina, which had claimed the authority to nullify federal tariffs. The matter was settled by Congress passing a compromise tariff . In December 1833, after being elected to a fifth consecutive term, Polk, with Jackson's backing, became the chairman of Ways and Means, a powerful position in

8640-455: The Quaker abolitionist Richard D. Webb . In 1840 they went to London to join up with other American delegates to the World Anti-Slavery Convention at the Exeter Hall in London. Phillips' new wife was one of a number of female delegates, who included Lucretia Mott , Mary Grew , Sarah Pugh, Abby Kimber, Elizabeth Neall and Emily Winslow. The delegates were astounded to find that female delegates had not been expected and they were not welcome at

8784-471: The Republican Party in the 1868 election . The Republicans did pass the Fifteenth Amendment constitutionalizing black suffrage in 1870, but the goal of land redistribution was never realized. In 1879, Phillips argued that black suffrage and political participation during Reconstruction had not been a failure, and that the main error of the era had been the failure to redistribute land to the freedmen . He defended black voters as being "less purchasable than

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8928-433: The Second Bank, deeming it a monopoly acting in the interest of Easterners. Polk, as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee , conducted investigations of the Second Bank, and though the committee voted for a bill to renew the bank's charter (scheduled to expire in 1836), Polk issued a strong minority report condemning the bank. The bill passed Congress in 1832; however, Jackson vetoed it and Congress failed to override

9072-417: The Sixth Ward. Born to a German-American father and an Irish Protestant mother, Rynders first appeared in New York City during the mid-1830s, after a brief career as a professional gambler and pistol-and-knife fighter on the Mississippi River , and soon became involved in local politics. An enthusiastic supporter of Tammany Hall, he established himself as one of the most politically skilled organizers in

9216-452: The Sixth Ward. Rynders remained in politics, attending the 1860 Democratic National Convention as a regular member of the New York delegation In early 1861, he was ordered by Chairman Morris to find William Hepburn Russell and return him to Washington, D.C. but telegraphed the capitol on March 2 that he was unable to locate him. Rynders reported that he had heard rumors that Russell was residing in Philadelphia but that he did not believe

9360-402: The South or Southwest could be elected—and, in his view, Polk had the best chance. Polk was at first startled, calling the plan "utterly abortive", but he agreed to accept it. Polk immediately wrote to instruct his lieutenants at the convention to work for his nomination as president. Despite Jackson's quiet efforts on his behalf, Polk was skeptical that he could win. Nevertheless, because of

9504-429: The Whig papers. Another concern was the third-party candidacy of President Tyler, which might split the Democratic vote. Tyler had been nominated by a group of loyal officeholders. Under no illusions he could win, he believed he could rally states' rights supporters and populists to hold the balance of power in the election. Only Jackson had the stature to resolve the situation, which he did with two letters to friends in

9648-433: The Whigs pointing out that he had committed himself to nothing. In September, a delegation of Whigs from nearby Giles County came to Columbia, armed with specific questions on Polk's views regarding the current tariff, the Whig-passed Tariff of 1842 , and with the stated intent of remaining in Columbia until they got answers. Polk took several days to respond and chose to stand by his earlier statement, provoking an outcry in

9792-408: The abolitionist movement. Bostonians gathered at Faneuil Hall to discuss Elijah P. Lovejoy 's murder by a mob outside his abolitionist newspaper's office in Alton, Illinois , on November 7. Lovejoy died defending himself and his press from pro-slavery rioters who set fire to a warehouse storing his press and shot Lovejoy as he stepped outside to tip a ladder being used by the mob. His death engendered

9936-403: The administration, defeated Polk. Jackson called in political debts to try to get Polk elected Speaker of the House at the start of the next Congress in December 1835, assuring Polk in a letter he meant him to burn that New England would support him for speaker. They were successful; Polk defeated Bell to take the speakership. According to Thomas M. Leonard, "by 1836, while serving as Speaker of

10080-403: The appointment of Indian agents . Phillips lobbied against military involvement in the settling of Native American problems on the Western frontier. He accused General Philip Sheridan of pursuing a policy of Indian extermination . Public opinion turned against Native American advocates after the Battle of the Little Bighorn in July 1876, but Phillips continued to support the land claims of

10224-404: The approval of the legislature. His only major success as governor was his politicking to secure the replacement of Tennessee's two Whig U.S. senators with Democrats. Polk's tenure was hindered by the continuing nationwide economic crisis that had followed the Panic of 1837 and which had caused Van Buren to lose the 1840 election . Encouraged by the success of Harrison's campaign, the Whigs ran

10368-483: The battle well and fought it alone". Polk hoped to gain Van Buren's support, hinting in a letter that a Van Buren/Polk ticket could carry Tennessee, but found him unconvinced. The biggest political issue in the United States at that time was territorial expansion. The Republic of Texas had successfully revolted against Mexico in 1836. With the republic largely populated by American emigres, those on both sides of

10512-477: The building and mob the audience" . Henry Ward Beecher invited Phillips to speak at Plymouth Church and, when a mob led by Rynders followed Phillips, he and his followers were met by a group of well-armed men who defended the building. It was during this meeting that Phillips not only spoke out against slavery but also of the corruption of Tammany Hall. Rynders was involved in the successful presidential elections of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan , during

10656-606: The city. He was said to have "sometimes permitted his love of the Irish and hatred for the English to upset his judgment" , however he also recognized the value of using the numerous street gangs for Tammany Hall. Owner of at least half a dozen green-groceries in Paradise Square , he was able to win the predominantly Irish-American gangs to the cause of Tammany Hall and organize them into a voting block . He later established

10800-466: The convention's Committee on Qualifications of Voters on May 27, 1853. In 1854, Phillips helped Stone call a New England Woman's Rights convention to expand suffrage petitioning into the other New England states. Phillips was a member of the National Woman's Rights Central Committee, which organized annual conventions throughout the 1850s, published its Proceedings, and executed plans adopted by

10944-428: The convention, recognizing that Johnson was too popular in the party to be ousted, Polk withdrew his name. The Whig presidential candidate, General William Henry Harrison , conducted a rollicking campaign with the motto " Tippecanoe and Tyler Too ", easily winning both the national vote and that in Tennessee. Polk campaigned in vain for Van Buren and was embarrassed by the outcome; Jackson, who had returned to his home,

11088-406: The convention. Instructed by his wife not to "shilly-shally", Phillips went in to appeal the case. According to the history of the women's rights movement of Susan B. Anthony 's and Elizabeth Cady Stanton , Phillips spoke as the convention opened, scolding the organizers for precipitating an unnecessary conflict: When the call reached America we found that it was an invitation to the friends of

11232-480: The convention. On the eighth ballot, Polk received only 44 votes to Cass's 114 and Van Buren's 104, but the deadlock showed signs of breaking. Butler formally withdrew Van Buren's name, many delegations declared for the Tennessean, and on the ninth ballot, Polk received 233 ballots to Cass's 29, making him the Democratic nominee for president. The nomination was then made unanimous. The convention then considered

11376-481: The conventions. He was a close adviser of Lucy Stone, and a major presence at most of the conventions, for which he wrote resolutions defining the movement's principles and goals. His address to the 1851 convention, later called "Freedom for Woman", was used as a women's rights tract into the twentieth century. In March 1857, Phillips and Stone were granted hearings by the Massachusetts and Maine legislatures on

11520-532: The election drew closer, it became clear that most of the country favored the annexation of Texas, and some Southern Whig leaders supported Polk's campaign due to Clay's anti-annexation stance. The campaign was vitriolic; both major party candidates were accused of various acts of malfeasance; Polk was accused of being both a duelist and a coward. The most damaging smear was the Roorback forgery ; in late August an item appeared in an abolitionist newspaper, part of

11664-469: The few major Democrats to have declared for the annexation of Texas. The convention opened on May 27, 1844. A crucial question was whether the nominee needed two-thirds of the delegate vote, as had been the case at previous Democratic conventions, or merely a majority. A vote for two-thirds would doom Van Buren's candidacy due to opposition from southern delegates. With the support of the Southern states,

11808-430: The first woman suffrage petition campaign in Massachusetts, drafting for her both the petition and an appeal for signatures. They repeated the effort the following two years, sending several hundred signatures to the state legislature. In 1853, they directed their petition to a convention charged with revising the state constitution, and sent it petitions bearing five thousand signatures. Together Phillips and Stone addressed

11952-463: The forgery backfired on Polk's opponents as it served to remind voters that Clay too was a slaveholder. John Eisenhower , in his journal article on the election, stated that the smear came too late to be effectively rebutted, and likely cost Polk Ohio. Southern newspapers, on the other hand, went far in defending Polk, one Nashville newspaper alleging that his slaves preferred their bondage to freedom. Polk himself implied to newspaper correspondents that

12096-671: The formal legal end of slavery. Along with Frederick Douglass , Phillips argued that without voting rights, the rights of freedmen would be "ground to powder" by white Southerners. He lamented the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment without provisions for black suffrage, and fervently opposed the Reconstruction regime of President Andrew Johnson , affixing a new masthead to the National Anti-Slavery Standard newspaper which read "Defeat

12240-668: The formation of the Confederacy because it would end the South 's stranglehold over the United States government. This position was rejected by nationalists like Abraham Lincoln , who insisted on holding the Union together while gradually ending slavery. Twelve days after the attack on Fort Sumter, Phillips announced his "hearty and hot" support for the war. Disappointed with what he regarded as Lincoln's slow action, Phillips opposed his reelection in 1864, breaking with Garrison, who supported

12384-457: The government to oversee its own deposits (rather than using pet banks), but the bill was defeated in the House. It eventually passed in 1840. Using his thorough grasp of the House's rules, Polk attempted to bring greater order to its proceedings. Unlike many of his peers, he never challenged anyone to a duel no matter how much they insulted his honor. The economic downturn cost the Democrats seats, so that when he faced re-election as Speaker of

12528-524: The hotel where Fowler was staying, Rynders made such a ruckus that Fowler was able to escape and eventually landed in Mexico. Rynders was portrayed in the historical novel The Furies (1976) by John Jakes and Lucrecia Mott (1999) by Dorothy Sterling . James K. Polk James Knox Polk ( / p oʊ k / ; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States , serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and

12672-451: The intent to protect American industry. Polk finessed the tariff issue in a published letter. Recalling that he had long stated that tariffs should only be sufficient to finance government operations, he maintained that stance but wrote that within that limitation, government could and should offer "fair and just protection" to American interests, including manufacturers. He refused to expand on this stance, acceptable to most Democrats, despite

12816-615: The late 17th century, 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

12960-410: 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

13104-519: The nickname "Napoleon of the Stump." At the polls, where Polk provided alcoholic refreshments for his voters, he defeated incumbent William Yancey. Beginning in early 1822, Polk courted Sarah Childress —they were engaged the following year and married on January 1, 1824, in Murfreesboro. Educated far better than most women of her time, especially in frontier Tennessee, Sarah Polk was from one of

13248-452: The objections of his physician. Phillips spoke at the unveiling of a statue to Harriet Martineau . At the time of the speech, he said that he thought it would be his last. Phillips died in his home, on Common Street in Boston 's neighborhood of Charlestown , on February 2, 1884. A solemn funeral was held at Hollis Street Church four days later. His body was taken to Faneuil Hall , where it lay in state for several hours. Phillips

13392-432: The office, Polk remained in Columbia and made no speeches. He engaged in extensive correspondence with Democratic Party officials as he managed his campaign. Polk made his views known in his acceptance letter and through responses to questions sent by citizens that were printed in newspapers, often by arrangement. A potential pitfall for Polk's campaign was the issue of whether the tariff should be for revenue only, or with

13536-402: The office, and stating his intent to serve only one term. Wright was embittered by what he called the "foul plot" against Van Buren, and demanded assurances that Polk had played no part; it was only after Polk professed that he had remained loyal to Van Buren that Wright supported his campaign. Following the custom of the time that presidential candidates avoid electioneering or appearing to seek

13680-399: The only slaves he owned had either been inherited or had been purchased from relatives in financial distress; this paternalistic image was also painted by surrogates like Gideon Pillow. This was not true, though not known at the time; by then he had bought over thirty slaves, both from relatives and others, mainly for the purpose of procuring labor for his Mississippi cotton plantation. There

13824-517: The opposition to Van Buren by expansionists in the West and South, Polk's key lieutenant at the 1844 Democratic National Convention in Baltimore, Gideon Johnson Pillow , believed Polk could emerge as a compromise candidate. Publicly, Polk, who remained in Columbia during the convention, professed full support for Van Buren's candidacy and was believed to be seeking the vice presidency. Polk was one of

13968-421: The people, elected senators), Jackson's name was placed in nomination. Polk broke from his usual allies, casting his vote for Jackson, who won. The Senate seat boosted Jackson's presidential chances by giving him current political experience to match his military accomplishments. This began an alliance that would continue until Jackson's death early in Polk's presidency. Polk, through much of his political career,

14112-465: The persecution of landlordism"; in other words, Phillips and the Republicans diverged on the issue of land redistribution to the freedmen . Despite his belief that Ulysses S. Grant was not suited for the presidential office and dissatisfaction with Grant's and the party's refusal to endorse his comprehensive Reconstruction program of "land, education and the ballot", Phillips supported Grant and

14256-641: The point at which the women's rights movement began. In 1854, Phillips was indicted for his participation in the celebrated attempt to rescue Anthony Burns , a captured fugitive slave , from a jail in Boston. After John Brown was executed in December 1859 , Phillips attended and spoke at his funeral, at the John Brown Farm in remote North Elba, New York . He met Mary Brown and the coffin in Troy, New York , where she changed trains, and expressed, unsuccessfully, his wish that Brown would be buried, with

14400-482: The police were unable to stop. He was a particularly important figure in civil disturbances against abolitionists during the period encountering such people as Frederick Douglass and Abby Gibbons . On one occasion, the famous abolitionist Wendell Phillips was stopped from speaking at the Broadway Tabernacle when Rynders, a proponent of slavery, publicly threatened that he and his men would "wreck

14544-676: The policies of Andrew Jackson, by then a military hero for his victory at the Battle of New Orleans (1815). Jackson was a family friend to both the Polks and the Childresses—there is evidence Sarah Polk and her siblings called him "Uncle Andrew"—and James Polk quickly came to support his presidential ambitions for 1824. When the Tennessee Legislature deadlocked on whom to elect as U.S. senator in 1823 (until 1913, legislators, not

14688-546: The questions of Reconstruction . In 1864, he gave a speech at the Cooper Institute in New York arguing that enfranchisement of freedmen should be a necessary condition for the readmission of Southern states to the Union. Unlike other white abolitionist leaders such as Garrison , Phillips thought that securing civil and political rights for freedmen was an essential component of the abolitionist cause, even after

14832-478: The race in August. Party troubles were a third concern. Polk and Calhoun made peace when a former South Carolina congressman, Francis Pickens visited Tennessee and came to Columbia for two days and to the Hermitage for sessions with the increasingly ill Jackson. Calhoun wanted the Globe dissolved, and that Polk would act against the 1842 tariff and promote Texas annexation. Reassured on these points, Calhoun became

14976-606: The report. He was among several Tammany political leaders who opposed the American Civil War, going so far as to support Mayor Fernando Wood 's proposal to take New York City out of the Union, and later fought the federal government over conscription prior to the New York Draft Riots in 1863. While also acting in his capacity as a U.S. marshal, he was responsible for the attempted capture of fellow Tammany operative Isaac Vanderbeck Fowler . Upon entry to

15120-617: The sale of the government's stock in the Second Bank. In June 1834, Speaker of the House Andrew Stevenson resigned from Congress to become Minister to the United Kingdom . With Jackson's support, Polk ran for speaker against fellow Tennessean John Bell , Calhoun disciple Richard Henry Wilde , and Joel Barlow Sutherland of Pennsylvania. After ten ballots, Bell, who had the support of many opponents of

15264-537: The same time, he has been criticized for leading the country into a war with Mexico that exacerbated sectional divides. A property owner who used slave labor, he kept a plantation in Mississippi and increased his slave ownership during his presidency. Polk's policy of territorial expansion saw the nation reach the Pacific coast and almost all its contiguous borders. He helped make the U.S. a nation poised to become

15408-510: The same, it would provide a western haven for runaways to match one in the North. A Texas not in the United States would also stand in the way of what was deemed America's Manifest Destiny to overspread the continent. Clay was nominated for president by acclamation at the April 1844 Whig National Convention , with New Jersey's Theodore Frelinghuysen his running mate. A Kentucky slaveholder at

15552-570: The second-most of each. Polk, like other Jackson supporters, believed that Speaker of the House Henry Clay had traded his support as fourth-place finisher (the House may only choose from among the top three) to Adams in a Corrupt Bargain in exchange for being the new Secretary of State. Polk had in August 1824 declared his candidacy for the following year's election to the House of Representatives from Tennessee's 6th congressional district . The district stretched from Maury County south to

15696-615: The slave of every nation and of every clime. Massachusetts has for several years acted on the principal of admitting women to an equal seat with men, in the deliberative bodies of the anti-slavery societies.... We stand here in consequence of your invitation, and knowing our custom, as it must be presumed you did, we had a right to interpret 'friends of the slave' to include women as well as men. The efforts of Phillips and others were only partly successful. The women were allowed in but had to sit separately and were not allowed to talk. This event has been taken by Stanton, Anthony, and others as

15840-539: The slave states secede: The experience of the fifty years...shows us the slaves trebling in numbers—slaveholders monopolizing the offices and dictating the policy of the Government—prostituting the strength and influence of the Nation to the support of slavery here and elsewhere—trampling on the rights of the free States, and making the courts of the country their tools. To continue this disastrous alliance longer

15984-538: The state disliked the destruction of the Second Bank, or were unwilling to support Van Buren. As Speaker of the House, Polk worked for the policies of Jackson and later Van Buren. Polk appointed committees with Democratic chairs and majorities, including the New York radical C. C. Cambreleng as the new Ways and Means chair, although he tried to maintain the speaker's traditional nonpartisan appearance. The two major issues during Polk's speakership were slavery and, after

16128-480: The state's most prominent families. During James's political career Sarah assisted her husband with his speeches, gave him advice on policy matters, and played an active role in his campaigns. Rawley noted that Sarah Polk's grace, intelligence and charming conversation helped compensate for her husband's often austere manner. Polk's first mentor was Grundy, but in the legislature, Polk came increasingly to oppose him on such matters as land reform , and came to support

16272-457: The state, seeking to become known more widely than just in his native Middle Tennessee . When Cannon came back on the campaign trail in the final days, Polk pursued him, hastening the length of the state to be able to debate the governor again. On Election Day, August 1, 1839, Polk defeated Cannon, 54,102 to 51,396, as the Democrats recaptured the state legislature and won back three congressional seats. Tennessee's governor had limited power—there

16416-462: The statue in recounting Mark Phillips,' a descendant of Wendell Phillips,' reaction to a legal victory in the case against W.R. Grace & Co. et al. The Phillips community in Minneapolis was named after him. A phrase from his speech of January 20, 1861, "I think the first duty of society is justice," sometimes wrongly attributed to Alexander Hamilton, appears on various courthouses around

16560-414: The telegraph. These improvements in communication encouraged a zest for expansionism . However, sectional divisions became worse during his tenure. Polk set four clearly defined goals for his administration: While his domestic aims represented continuity with past Democratic policies, successful completion of Polk's foreign policy goals would represent the first major American territorial gains since

16704-456: The ticket, but as a Van Buren loyalist, Wright would not consent. Pillow and Bancroft decided if Polk were nominated for president, Wright might accept the second spot. Before the eighth ballot, former Attorney General Benjamin F. Butler , head of the New York delegation, read a pre-written letter from Van Buren to be used if he could not be nominated, withdrawing in Wright's favor. But Wright (who

16848-489: The ticket; Johnson was disliked by many Southern whites for fathering two daughters by a biracial mistress and attempting to introduce them into white society. Johnson was from Kentucky, so Polk's Tennessee residence would keep the New Yorker Van Buren's ticket balanced. The convention chose to endorse no one for vice president, stating that a choice would be made once the popular vote was cast. Three weeks after

16992-476: The two-thirds rule was passed. Van Buren won a majority on the first presidential ballot but failed to win the necessary two-thirds, and his support slowly faded. Cass, Johnson, Calhoun and James Buchanan also received votes on the first ballot, and Cass took the lead on the fifth. After seven ballots, the convention remained deadlocked: Cass could not reach two-thirds, and Van Buren's supporters became discouraged about his chances. Delegates were ready to consider

17136-601: The veto. Jackson's action was highly controversial in Washington but had considerable public support, and he won easy re-election in 1832 . Like most Southerners, Polk favored low tariffs on imported goods, and initially sympathized with John C. Calhoun 's opposition to the Tariff of Abominations during the Nullification Crisis of 1832–1833, but came over to Jackson's side as Calhoun moved towards advocating secession. Thereafter, Polk remained loyal to Jackson as

17280-466: The vice-presidential nomination. Butler advocated for Wright, and the convention agreed, with only four Georgia delegates dissenting. Word of Wright's nomination was sent to him in Washington via telegraph . Having declined by proxy an almost certain presidential nomination, Wright also refused the vice-presidential nomination. Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, a close Polk ally, then suggested former senator George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania. Dallas

17424-482: The wake of his second statewide defeat in three years, Polk faced an uncertain political future. Despite his loss, Polk was determined to become the next vice president of the United States , seeing it as a path to the presidency. Van Buren was the frontrunner for the 1844 Democratic nomination, and Polk engaged in a careful campaign to become his running mate. The former president faced opposition from Southerners who feared his views on slavery, while his handling of

17568-451: The white man," credited black labor and rule for the nascent regrowth of the Southern economy, and commended black bravery against attacks from the first Ku Klux Klan . As the Reconstruction era came to a close, Phillips increased his attention to other issues, such as women's rights , universal suffrage , temperance , and the labor movement . Phillips was also active in efforts to gain equal rights for Native Americans , arguing that

17712-413: The woman suffrage memorial sent to twenty-five legislatures by the 1856 National Woman's Rights Convention. As the movement's treasurer, Phillips was trustee with Lucy Stone and Susan B. Anthony of a $ 5,000 fund given anonymously to the movement in 1858, called the "Phillips fund" until the death of the benefactor, Francis Jackson, in 1861, and thereafter the "Jackson Fund". Phillips's philosophical ideal

17856-466: The years 1630 and 1650. Phillips was schooled at Boston Latin School , and graduated from Harvard College in 1831. He went on to attend Harvard Law School , from which he graduated in 1833. In 1834, Phillips was admitted to the Massachusetts state bar , and in the same year, he opened a law practice in Boston . In 1836, Phillips was supporting the abolitionist cause when he met Ann Greene. It

18000-424: Was Calhoun, leader of a considerable faction of the Democratic Party, but, when approached by emissaries, he did not take offense and was willing to step down. Polk did not want his Cabinet to contain presidential hopefuls, though he chose to nominate James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, whose ambition for the presidency was well-known, as Secretary of State. Tennessee's Cave Johnson , a close friend and ally of Polk,

18144-430: Was acceptable enough to all factions and gained the nomination on the third ballot. The delegates passed a platform and adjourned on May 30. Many contemporary politicians, including Pillow and Bancroft, later claimed credit for getting Polk the nomination, but Walter R. Borneman felt that most of the credit was due to Jackson and Polk, "the two who had done the most were back in Tennessee, one an aging icon ensconced at

18288-611: Was credited for securing the presidency of Democratic candidate James K. Polk during the United States presidential election of 1844 . It was also the headquarters from which he directed his lieutenants such as Country McCleester , Edward Z.C. Judson , Paudeen McLaughlin , Jim Turner , Lew Baker and John Morrissey and the Dead Rabbits against the Know Nothings and their Bowery supporters which included

18432-499: Was elected clerk of the Tennessee State Senate , which then sat in Murfreesboro and to which Grundy had been elected. He was re-elected clerk in 1821 without opposition, and continued to serve until 1822. In June 1820, he was admitted to the Tennessee bar, and his first case was to defend his father against a public fighting charge; he secured his release for a one-dollar fine. He opened an office in Maury County and

18576-516: Was her opinion that this cause required not just support but total commitment. Phillips and Greene were engaged that year and Greene declared Wendell to be her "best three quarters". They were married until Wendell's death, 46 years later. On October 21, 1835, the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society announced that British abolitionist George Thompson would be speaking. Pro-slavery forces posted nearly 500 notices of

18720-491: Was in Washington) had also entrusted a pre-written letter to a supporter, in which he refused to be considered as a presidential candidate, and stated in the letter that he agreed with Van Buren's position on Texas. Had Wright's letter not been read he most likely would have been nominated, but without him, Butler began to rally Van Buren supporters for Polk as the best possible candidate, and Bancroft placed Polk's name before

18864-481: Was known as "Young Hickory", based on the nickname for Jackson, "Old Hickory". Polk's political career was as dependent on Jackson as his nickname implied. In the 1824 United States presidential election , Jackson got the most electoral votes (he also led in the popular vote) but as he did not receive a majority in the Electoral College , the election was thrown into the U.S. House of Representatives , which chose Secretary of State John Quincy Adams , who had received

19008-512: Was known as "abolition's golden trumpet". Like many of Phillips' fellow abolitionists who honored the free-produce movement , he condemned the purchase of cane sugar and clothing made of cotton, since both were produced by the labor of slaves. He was a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee , an organization that assisted fugitive slaves in avoiding slavecatchers. It was Phillips's contention that racial injustice

19152-560: Was less of a surprise than that of future nominees such as Franklin Pierce or Warren G. Harding . Despite his party's gibes, Clay recognized that Polk could unite the Democrats. Rumors of Polk's nomination reached Nashville on June 4, much to Jackson's delight; they were substantiated later that day. The dispatches were sent on to Columbia, arriving the same day, and letters and newspapers describing what had happened at Baltimore were in Polk's hands by June 6. He accepted his nomination by letter dated June 12, alleging that he had never sought

19296-487: Was mainly self-control of the animal, physical self by the human, rational mind, although he admired martyrs like Elijah Lovejoy and John Brown . Historian Gilbert Osofsky has argued that Phillips's nationalism was shaped by a religious ideology derived from the European Enlightenment , as expressed by Thomas Paine , Thomas Jefferson , James Madison , and Alexander Hamilton . The Puritan ideal of

19440-400: Was no gubernatorial veto, and the small size of the state government limited any political patronage. But Polk saw the office as a springboard for his national ambitions, seeking to be nominated as Van Buren's vice presidential running mate at the 1840 Democratic National Convention in Baltimore in May. Polk hoped to be the replacement if Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson was dumped from

19584-562: Was no uniform election day in 1844; states voted between November 1 and 12. Polk won the election with 49.5% of the popular vote and 170 of the 275 electoral votes. Becoming the first president elected despite losing his state of residence (Tennessee), Polk also lost his birth state, North Carolina. However, he won Pennsylvania and New York, where Clay lost votes to the antislavery Liberty Party candidate James G. Birney , who got more votes in New York than Polk's margin of victory. Had Clay won New York, he would have been elected president. With

19728-478: Was nominated for the position of Postmaster General, with George Bancroft, the historian who had played a crucial role in Polk's nomination, as Navy Secretary. Polk's choices met with the approval of Andrew Jackson, with whom Polk met for the last time in January 1845, as Jackson died that June. Tyler's last Navy Secretary, John Y. Mason of Virginia, Polk's friend since college days and a longtime political ally,

19872-537: Was not on the original list. As Cabinet choices were affected by factional politics and President Tyler's drive to resolve the Texas issue before leaving office, Polk at the last minute chose Mason as Attorney General. Polk also chose Mississippi Senator Walker as Secretary of the Treasury and New York's William Marcy as Secretary of War. The members worked well together, and few replacements were necessary. One reshuffle

20016-471: Was pleased by Jackson's Maysville Road veto in May 1830, when Jackson blocked a bill to finance a road extension entirely within one state, Kentucky, deeming it unconstitutional. Jackson opponents alleged that the veto message, which strongly complained about Congress' penchant for passing pork barrel projects, was written by Polk, but he denied this, stating that the message was entirely the President's. Polk served as Jackson's most prominent House ally in

20160-537: Was required in 1846 when Bancroft, who wanted a diplomatic posting, became U.S. minister to Britain . Wendell Phillips Wendell Phillips (November 29, 1811 – February 2, 1884) was an American abolitionist , advocate for Native Americans , orator , and attorney . According to George Lewis Ruffin , a Black attorney, Phillips was seen by many Blacks as "the one white American wholly color-blind and free from race prejudice". According to another Black attorney, Archibald Grimké , as an abolitionist leader he

20304-563: Was successful as a lawyer, due largely to the many cases arising from the Panic of 1819 , a severe depression. His law practice subsidized his political career. By the time the legislature adjourned its session in September 1822, Polk was determined to be a candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives . The election was in August 1823, almost a year away, allowing him ample time for campaigning. Already involved locally as

20448-638: Was successful, but it may have left James impotent or sterile, as he had no children. He recovered quickly and became more robust. His father offered to bring him into one of his businesses, but he wanted an education and enrolled at a Presbyterian academy in 1813. He became a member of the Zion Church near his home in 1813 and enrolled in the Zion Church Academy. He then entered Bradley Academy in Murfreesboro, Tennessee , where he proved

20592-587: Was the source of all of society's ills. Like Garrison, Phillips denounced the Constitution for tolerating slavery. He disagreed with abolitionist Lysander Spooner and maintained that slavery was part of the Constitution, and more generally disputed Spooner's notion that any judge could find slavery illegal. In 1845, in an essay titled "No Union With Slaveholders", he argued that the country would be better off, and not complicit in their guilt, if it let

20736-661: Was then buried at Granary Burying Ground . In April 1886, his remains were exhumed and reburied at Milton Cemetery in Milton . On February 12, a memorial service was held at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Sullivan Street in New York City . Rev. William B. Derrick gave a eulogy , describing Phillips as a friend of humanity and a citizen of the world. Timothy Thomas Fortune also eulogized Phillips, calling him

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