There are many of us who find the presidency of James K. Polk to be interesting. After all, he did accomplish a lot in his one and only term. He also adds to the allure of his legacy by opting not to run for a second term.
Most notably famous for his successful foreign policy. First he acquired lots of land in the Pacific Northwest by threatening to go to war with Britain, essentially taking what we know of as the Oregon Territory. Next, he was president during the Mexican–American War which resulted in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, where the United States took land from Mexico. James K. Polk is manifest destiny at it's finest, in all Polk was able to secure over 900,000 square miles for the expansion of the United States.
For a history teacher, this is pretty cool stuff. But for a student....? Aahh, maybe not so interesting. So how about teaching about James K. Polk through song. The band They Might be Giants (TMBG) makes it easy for you.
Click the play button below, and read the lyric and I'm sure you'll agree that they've got the facts straight. Then go to TMBG's page below for an annotated version of their lyrics.
James K. Polk Lyrics
Artist: They Might Be Giants
Album: Factory Showroom
In 1844, the Democrats were split
The three nominees for the presidential candidate
Were Martin Van Buren, a former president and an abolitionist
James Buchanan, a moderate
Louis Cass, a general and expansionist
From Nashville came a dark horse riding up
He was James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump
Austere, severe, he held few people dear
His oratory filled his foes with fear
The factions soon agreed
He's just the man we need
To bring about victory
Fulfill our manifest destiny
And annex the land the Mexicans command
And when the votes were cast the winner was
Mister James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump
In four short years he met his every goal
He seized the whole southwest from Mexico
Made sure the tarriffs fell
And made the English sell the Oregon territory
He built an independent treasury
Having done all this he sought no second term
But precious few have mourned the passing of
Mister James K. Polk, our eleventh president
Young Hickory, Napoleon of the Stump
Here's a link to TMBG's site and some explanations of the lyrics.
http://www.tmbg.org/learning/jameskpolk/
Kudos to TMBG for making it easy for teachers to use their song in class.
Showing posts with label James Polk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Polk. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Mister James K. Polk, our 11th President
Thursday, January 31, 2008
The Antiques Roadshow Takes A Closer Look at American History
While aimlessly flipping the channels a few nights ago, which doesn't happen as much as it used to now that we've upgraded to DVR, I stopped on the Antiques Roadshow.
This show always intrigues me with the background and history associated with each item. The appraisers are often times extremely knowledgeable in history and will associate the piece and how it was made with the era from which it came. To me, this makes the show very much worth watching.
But this night of the Antiques Road Show became especially enjoyable when they focused on a political sign from the 1840 election brought in by a man who inherited it from his family. The story goes that his great-grandmother, had made the sign in support of James K. Polk. The banner was appraised at $5-7,000 at auction.
His father's grandmother, was related to Abraham Lincoln. "One branch of the Lincoln family produced a gentleman by the name of Abraham," he told appraiser Catherine Williamson of Bonham & Butterfields in Los Angeles. "And the other branch of the family produced me."
I find it curious that during that era women weren't allowed to vote. But in the true democratic fashion, this woman decided to take the time to hand paint letters onto a banner which was approximately 15 by 6, using stencils. This was her way of campaigning.
Her favorite, Polk eventually did win the election on his platform of territorial expansion. He favored the annexation of Texas and the acquisition of the entire Oregon Territory, which at that time was shared with Britain. He was also pro-slavery. Polk was obviously the democratic nominee.
On the other hand Clay, representing the Whigs, had lost elections in 1824 and 1832, was against expansion and was anti-slavery. I've always been a big fan of Henry Clay, mostly because he was a man of strong convictions. He was never willing to give up. Known as the Great Compromiser his skill in negotiations staved off the Civil War twice in in 1820 with the Missouri Compromise and again with the Compromise of 1850. He also ran for president 5 times.
But back to the task at hand...
You can see the whole appraisal here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200702A10.html
Who knew the Antiques Roadshow was so Web 2.0. They have archived every appraisal they've done on TV and created a pretty cool search engine to find them too.
I tuned out after that, but was a little upset that I didn't continue watching. What came next was from the personal archives of the White House photographer for JFK.
"I was in Dallas during the horrible assassination," he told appraiser Francis Wahlgren of Christie's in New York as he recounted the details of that day. Once he realized Kennedy had died, he got on the plane with Lyndon Johnson and Jacqueline Kennedy and photographed Johnson's swearing-in ceremony.
The value of that photograph, autographed by LBJ, was $50,000, while a signed photo of the Kennedy family was appraised at $25,000.
And apparently this was THE episode to watch for american history aficianados as a Civil War Henry Repeating rifle was also appraised.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200702A34.html
References:
Article about Antiques Roadshow - http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080126/LIFE/801260301/-1/archives
Missouri Compromise - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Compromise
Compromise of 1850 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compromise_of_1850
This show always intrigues me with the background and history associated with each item. The appraisers are often times extremely knowledgeable in history and will associate the piece and how it was made with the era from which it came. To me, this makes the show very much worth watching.
But this night of the Antiques Road Show became especially enjoyable when they focused on a political sign from the 1840 election brought in by a man who inherited it from his family. The story goes that his great-grandmother, had made the sign in support of James K. Polk. The banner was appraised at $5-7,000 at auction.
His father's grandmother, was related to Abraham Lincoln. "One branch of the Lincoln family produced a gentleman by the name of Abraham," he told appraiser Catherine Williamson of Bonham & Butterfields in Los Angeles. "And the other branch of the family produced me."
I find it curious that during that era women weren't allowed to vote. But in the true democratic fashion, this woman decided to take the time to hand paint letters onto a banner which was approximately 15 by 6, using stencils. This was her way of campaigning.
Her favorite, Polk eventually did win the election on his platform of territorial expansion. He favored the annexation of Texas and the acquisition of the entire Oregon Territory, which at that time was shared with Britain. He was also pro-slavery. Polk was obviously the democratic nominee.
On the other hand Clay, representing the Whigs, had lost elections in 1824 and 1832, was against expansion and was anti-slavery. I've always been a big fan of Henry Clay, mostly because he was a man of strong convictions. He was never willing to give up. Known as the Great Compromiser his skill in negotiations staved off the Civil War twice in in 1820 with the Missouri Compromise and again with the Compromise of 1850. He also ran for president 5 times.
But back to the task at hand...
You can see the whole appraisal here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200702A10.html
Who knew the Antiques Roadshow was so Web 2.0. They have archived every appraisal they've done on TV and created a pretty cool search engine to find them too.
I tuned out after that, but was a little upset that I didn't continue watching. What came next was from the personal archives of the White House photographer for JFK.
"I was in Dallas during the horrible assassination," he told appraiser Francis Wahlgren of Christie's in New York as he recounted the details of that day. Once he realized Kennedy had died, he got on the plane with Lyndon Johnson and Jacqueline Kennedy and photographed Johnson's swearing-in ceremony.The value of that photograph, autographed by LBJ, was $50,000, while a signed photo of the Kennedy family was appraised at $25,000.
And apparently this was THE episode to watch for american history aficianados as a Civil War Henry Repeating rifle was also appraised.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200702A34.html
References:
Article about Antiques Roadshow - http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080126/LIFE/801260301/-1/archives
Missouri Compromise - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_Compromise
Compromise of 1850 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compromise_of_1850
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