James Knox Polk Biography

Elected Member of House of Representatives

Elected Governor of Tennessee

Polk begins a highly disciplined one term administration centered on defined policy goals

Polk asks Congress to reduce tariff rates and restore the independent treasury system

Polk takes office supporting completion of Texas annexation

Inaugurated President of the USA, 11th President

Texas Constitutional Convention votes to accept the United States annexation proposal

Polk forms his cabinet after taking office as President of the United States

Texas voters approve annexation, the annexation ordinance and the proposed state constitution

Texas Congress gives consent to the United States annexation proposal

Texas is admitted to the Union as the 28th state

Polk signs the resolution admitting Texas to the Union as the 28th state

Mexican artillery opens bombardment against the United States fort opposite Matamoros

Mexican forces begin the siege of Fort Texas near the Rio Grande

United States defenders hold Fort Texas while General Taylor marches to relieve the garrison

Major Jacob Brown is mortally wounded during the Mexican bombardment of Fort Texas

Polk signs the Independent Treasury Act restoring a federal treasury system separate from private banks

United States and Californio forces fight at San Pasqual in California

United States forces defeat Mexican forces at Palo Alto

United States forces defeat Mexican forces at Resaca de la Palma

Fort Texas is secured by United States forces and later renamed Fort Brown in honor of Major Jacob Brown

Mexican forces lift the siege after United States victory at Resaca de la Palma

Treaty supports American use of Panama as an Atlantic to Pacific transit corridor

Treaty becomes an early diplomatic foundation for later United States canal ambitions

Treaty establishes a precedent for later United States involvement in Panama transit policy

Treaty of peace amity navigation and commerce links United States trade policy to Panama transit

Treaty grants free transit over existing or future routes across the Isthmus of Panama

Treaty language covers routes that may later be constructed across Panama

Polk administration treats the Panama route as a strategic interoceanic connection

United States obtains rights of transit across the Isthmus of Panama

Polk administration secures treaty framework for United States transit across the Isthmus of Panama

Treaty is later interpreted as permitting United States protection of isthmian transit

United States agrees to guarantee the neutrality of the isthmian transit route

United States recognizes and guarantees New Granadan sovereignty over the Isthmus of Panama

Treaty creates reciprocal rights and obligations between the United States and New Granada over Panama transit

Treaty strengthens United States access between Atlantic and Pacific routes

Mallarino Bidlack Treaty creates an early legal basis for future American canal policy in Panama

Treaty helps prepare the legal environment for later United States-backed railroad transit across Panama

United States guarantee becomes a key legal background to later Panama Canal diplomacy

United States guarantee of neutrality makes Panama transit a matter of American foreign policy

Polk administration advances a strategic policy of protected isthmian communication

Treaty gives the United States a diplomatic interest in protecting transit across Panama

Orders General Zachary Taylor to move troops toward the Rio Grande in the disputed border region

Polk signs proclamation announcing that a state of war exists with Mexico

Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th Parallel boundary between British and American claims in the Pacific Northwest

United States forces under Stephen W. Kearny occupy Santa Fe without major resistance

United States forces begin the Battle of Monterrey in northern Mexico

Mexican forces surrender Monterrey to the United States after several days of fighting

Mexican forces clash with a United States patrol north of the Rio Grande

United States forces defeat Mexican forces during the New Mexico campaign

Polk directs formal notice ending joint occupation arrangements for Oregon

Polk signs the Walker Tariff lowering tariff rates and reshaping federal revenue policy

Recalls Nicholas Trist after failed peace negotiations with Mexico

Authorizes Nicholas Trist to negotiate peace terms with Mexico

United States forces defeat Californio forces near the San Gabriel River

United States forces attack Mexican positions at Molino del Rey

United States forces defeat Californio forces near Los Angeles

United States forces begin the amphibious siege of Veracruz

United States forces storm Chapultepec Castle outside Mexico City

United States forces enter and occupy Mexico City

United States forces defeat Santa Anna's army at Cerro Gordo

United States forces defeat Mexican defenders at Churubusco

United States forces defeat Mexican forces near Mexico City

United States forces under Zachary Taylor fight Mexican forces under Santa Anna

Mexican forces surrender Veracruz to the United States

Treaty transfers a vast cession of Mexican territory to the United States

Treaty confirms the Rio Grande as the southern boundary of Texas

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo transfers territory including much of present-day Arizona to the United States

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo transfers Upper California to the United States

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo transfers New Mexico to the United States

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed by American and Mexican negotiators

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed ending the Mexican-American War

Proclaims the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in force for the United States

United States Senate approves ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo with amendments

Ratifies the amended Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on behalf of the United States

Submits the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to the United States Senate

Ratifications of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo are exchanged at Queretaro