James K. Polk and His Time

This multiauthor volume arose out of an April 2019 James K. Polk conference, sponsored by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's History Department and meant, in part, to commemorate the concluded Polk Papers project. The twelve chapters, all relying on primary research found in the fourteen-volume Correspondence of James K. Polk, provide a range of topics that will result in a significant reinterpretation of this controversial president. Among the many issues discussed are Polk's genealogy, his family's views on slavery, his ruptured relationship with Martin Van Buren, the influence of the Jacksonian religion on his thinking, and new perspectives on the Mexican War--