James K. Polk

Essay by justinlCollege, UndergraduateB+, December 2007

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To what extent can the life and political career of James K. Polk be regarded as a person who dealt with a democratic, egalitarian culture? With the view changing during the 1820's to the 1840's in the "Age of the Common Man", Egalitarianism, a passion for equality and a strong sense of solidarity with people, definitely emerged during this period for the American people. This new ideal of Egalitarian culture became very common and popular and thus spread and became widely used with the new American nation at this time, thus changing Americans life in many aspects. As a firm supporter of Andrew Jackson and his thoughts on government and the way America should be, looking at someone's life such as James K. Polk would show a perfect example on how his beliefs, morals and thoughts promote a democratic egalitarian culture that would make an impact on American life.

Coming from a family with plenty of wealth and money, it seems that the Polk's had settled from Ireland to America very nicely. James K. Polk came from a very wealthy family with much money, but unlike other presidents in the past their family was not apart of any aristocracy. Throughout Polk's life, he spent his entire time gathering all the information he had and no matter what situation came up whether it be illness or some other hardship, he tried to not let that stop him. For example, when Polk was a child, he had been diagnosed with many sicknesses that cause him abdominal pains that affected him greatly. He was raised to be able to cope with this sicknesses taught by his family and this ideal molded him into the man he became. At his young age, he learned at an early stage how to "be the...