Article abstract: A staunch nationalist, Polk used the authority of the presidency to bring about the expansion of the nation nearly to its continental limits. He added power as well as stature to the office.
Early Life
James Knox Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, on November 2, 1795. His parents, Samuel and Jane Knox Polk, were members of large Scotch-Irish families whose forebears began migrating to America late in the previous century. When James was eleven, Samuel moved the family westward to the Duck River Valley in middle...
Source: Dictionary of World Biography: The 19th Century, ©1999 Salem Press, Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
(The entire page is 3067 words.)
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