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History of the United States I / Unit 11   USH1 1539 short lesson, about 20 seconds

The Election of 1844

Captions available

The idea

Voters elected James K. Polk in eighteen forty-four specifically because he promised territorial expansion.

In practice

A Tennessee slaveholder vowing to annex Texas as a new slave state and to take Oregon as well.

Where people slip

His campaign slogan was fifty-four forty or fight, naming a latitude in the Pacific Northwest.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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