President #11James K. (Knox) Polk

1845-1849 Vice President: George M. Dallas

Dallas was Mayor of Philadelphia, Senator from Pennsylvania and U.S. Ambassador to Russia and Great Britain.

Although cities and counties in many states are named after him, including Dallas County in Texas, The city of Dallas may have been named after his brother, Alexander.

Manifest Destiny

Key Events

• Mexican American War• Mexican Cession• 54-40 or Fight!• Oregon Trail• Gold Rush• Bear Flag Republic

Mexican Cession(525,000 Square Miles!)

President #12Zachary Taylor

1849-1850 (Died)Vice President:Millard Fillmore

Old Rough and Ready

Key Events• Southerners threaten to

secede.• Taylor threatens to hang

rebels.• President refuses to support

the Compromise of 1850.• Taylor dies.• Poisoned?

General Taylor dies suddenly and mysteriously in July of 1850.

President #13Millard Fillmore

1850-1853 The Not So Great Compromise

Fillmore had no Vice President.

Coming Apart at the Seams

Key Events• Wilmot Proviso• Compromise of 1850

Wilmot Proviso

Under Senator Wilmot’s Proviso, slavery would be banned from the new territory won from Mexico.

Wilmot Proviso: PA congressman, David Wilmot, proposed that a bill be amended to forbid slavery in any of the new territories from Mexico. The proviso was passed through the house twice, but was defeated both times.

President #14Franklin Pierce

1853-1857 Vice President: William Rufus King

William R. King and his close friend, James Buchanan were known as Miss Nancy and Aunt Fancy.

Bloody Kansas

Key Events• Kansas Nebraska Act• Bleeding Kansas• Sack of Lawrence• John Brown’s Raid• Brook’s attacks Sumner• Gadsden Purchase

Kansas Nebraska ActJohn Brown

Preston “Bully” Brooks assaults Charles Sumner.

The Gadsden Purchase was the last piece of the puzzle.

President #15James Buchanan

1857-1861 Vice President: John C. Breckinridge

1. Senator from Kentucky2. Came in third behind Lincoln and Bell in 18603. Fought for Confederacy4. Fled to Cuba to avoid treason charges5. Granted Amnesty in 18696. Spoke out against Ku Klux Klan

Defended the Constitution but not the Union

Key Events• Dred Scott decision

• South Carolina Secedes• Battle of Fort Sumter• American Civil War

The Shooting Starts

Buchanan felt that the Constitution did grant him the power to prevent South Carolina from seceding.

December 1860 S.C. secedes.April 1861 battle begins.