
FRESH STUFF DAILY
Seacoast New Hampshire
& South Coast Maine
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
|
|
| |
|
|
|
df3
get viagra prescription online canadian pharmacy levitra online propecia for sale 25mg viagra support team canadian cialis cialis mg viagra sale buy viagra online no prescription propecia, prescription viagra online panama pharmacy propecia with out a prescription canadian levitra cialis canada pharmacy viagra viagra sale prescription drugs on line levitra 10 propecia without prescription viagra without prescription vicodine generic viagra canada cialis 5 mg cialis canadian drug store canadian oharmacy penicillan pills cialis online
0
|
Portsmouth Pomp for President Polk
|
|
|
|
Written by Ray Brighton
|
|
Page 1 of 2 
PRESIDENTS IN PORTSMOUTH
Instigating war with Mexico, spreading slavery, James K. Polk was not beloved by Portsmouth citizens generally. But he got a civil welcome here. President Polk almost ran smack into "bad boy" Thomas Bailey Aldrich during his 1847 visit to Seacoast, New Hampshire.
SEE: Next visits by Franklin PIerce and Ulysses S Grand
President James Knox Polk (1745 - 1849) was not like other presidents who had visited the Seacoast. At 49 he was the youngest chief executive in history and a southerner to boot. So close a protégé of Andrew Jackson, Polk was nicknamed "Young Hickory", and after twice losing re-election as governor of Tennessee, Polk went on to become the nation's first dark horse presidential candidate. A declared one-term President, Polk's expansionism led to the giant US addition of Texas and California and set the stage for the battle over slavery that soon split the nation into Civil War. He died just months after his term ended. In this article, historian Ray Brighton makes the connection between Polk's visit and the most famous Fourth of July in Portsmouth history. --- JDR
President Polk is Coming!
After the visits of George Washington and James Monroe, 30 years and five presidents came and went before another chief executive graced the streets of New Hampshire’s old port city. President James Polk ran into some antipathy in the course of his visit. It was his lot to be presiding over an unpopular war, the one with Mexico from 1846 to 1847.
Some hint of the problems President Polk faced is contained in a strongly worded item in the Portsmouth Journal of Literature and Politics on June 26th, 1847:
"BUENA VISTA -- This according to the New Hampshire Gazette is to be the watch-word for the Polk War Party at the coming election. This is well. Let it be understood, then that we are not called upon to decide between a federalist and some other 'ist', but to vote for or against Mr. Polk's war for conquest and slavery. Those who are fond of war and blood-shed, those who approve of extravagance and waste and great loans and burdensome taxes, will vote for a representative who will act as Mr. Polk pleases."
"But those who are opposed to war," the newspaper continued, "who do not approve of slavery, who are not anxious for conquest, and who deem our present debt and present taxes large enough, will vote for a representative whose views agree with their own. Let the issues in this contest be War and Slavery on the one side -- Peace and Freedom on the other."
As indicated in this emotional article, an election for seats in the National Congress was brewing, and in June, 1847, President Polk took to the road to campaign for his policies. In the same issue of the Journal was a brief item from Baltimore in which President Polk reportedly said in a speech that he wouldn't be a candidate for re-election under any circumstances. The Journal gave the Boston Post as the source for the President's itinerary. He was heading toward Boston, via New York, and due there on June 29th. The next day he planned to move on to Lowell, and then July lst he was to be in Concord, NH. The next day he would go to Portland, Maine. The Journal added:
"Letters have been received in this town, stating the President may make a short visit to Portsmouth, probably after visiting Maine. No certain arrangement, however, has yet been made. However, it didn't take Portsmouth long to get up a full head of steam in planning to receive the eleventh leader of the United States." . ."
CONTINUE to read about JAMES K POLK
<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
|
Please visit these SeacoastNH.com ad partners.
Portsmouth Herald
|
Portsmouth Herald Latest Headlines
|
| Portsmouth Herald News from SeacoastOnline.com |
-
Memorial Bridge re-opens
PORTSMOUTH — The Memorial Bridge reopened ahead of schedule on Friday following a month of repairs that forced drivers to seek alternative routes between the city and Kittery, Maine.
-
Driver inattention caused 3-car crash, say police
PORTSMOUTH - A three-car chain-reaction crash snarled lunch hour traffic on Woodbury Avenue Friday and sent a Maine man to Portsmouth Regional Hospital.
-
City police 'did all the right things' with man on bridge
PORTSMOUTH — When two city police officers talked a suicidal man off the High Level Bridge Wednesday morning by promising him a burger, a warm place to go and undivided...
-
and#8216;Lost' to premiere on Groundhog Day! Coincidence?
Now we know when the sixth and final season of “Lost” will begin. According to the ABC press release, the show will debut on Tuesday, February 2. The...
-
Portsmouth police log
8:50 a.m. Report taken about a suspicious male who approached a child in Hannafords.
-
Owner: Cigarettes stolen during Seacoast Variety break-in
PORTSMOUTH — Police were called to the Seacoast Variety store early Friday morning when a witness reported the front door was smashed, and according to store owner Joseph Goulis, $200...
-
Go and Do: Festival of Trees in Portsmouth
-
Say hello to Josie
Josie is a domestic long haired, 2½ year old, spayed and microchipped female. She has been good with children and other cats, but the staff members at the N.H. Society...
-
Movie review: 'Twilight' gets 3 stars
"The Twilight Saga: New Moon," also known as "Twilight: The Squeakquel," is actually pretty good — a tick better than the first "Twilight," which wasn't bad either. These are hardly...
-
The Truth about Dating: Do you have a dating addiction?
Everywhere I turn on television these days I see Dr. Drew Pinsky popping up discussing one type of addiction or another.
-
FairPoint says it's on rebound
PORTSMOUTH — FairPoint Communications remains an aggressive competitor in the telecommunications industry, despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, a company official told members of the Portsmouth Rotary...
-
Eliot mother wants to be 'Biggest Loser'
ELIOT, Maine — Angela Boyle is pretty and vivacious with a self-deprecating sense of humor, a mother of four, a wife, an income tax preparer, a six-year resident of Eliot...
-
City paying 1 percent for art
PORTSMOUTH — Less than a month after unveiling the "Vigilance" sculpture at Fire Station One, the city will move forward with plans for a new piece of public art at...
-
School officials, police lock down York High
YORK, Maine — School officials and police instituted a lockdown at York High School for less than 30 minutes Thursday morning after a student was allegedly seen armed with a...
-
'Twilight' fans stay up all night for 'New Moon'
NEWINGTON — Kellie Bradley, 17, saw the first "Twilight" film 18 times.
-
'Heart of Portsmouth' auction begins
PORTSMOUTH — The online auction to raise money to help Amy DeStefano as she awaits a heart transplant begins at 8 a.m. today.
-
'Tramp' and killing comment lands man in court
PORTSMOUTH — It was New Year's Eve 2008 when "Bernie" Molloy called the manager of his apartment complex "a tramp of the highest order," leading to his arrest on a...
-
Check progress of Winnicut River work online
GREENLAND — Residents can follow the progress of the Winnicut River restoration with an on-site Web cam that has recorded the work in time lapse photography.
-
Service Credit Union donates 50 turkeys to Portsmouth Salvation Army
PORTSMOUTH — Michele Saccoccia, Aimee Sundstrom and Carolyn Richard leaned over a gray tarp in their bright red Service Credit Union fleece pullovers as they placed on the floor a...
-
Fifth man linked to Mont Vernon burglary killing is charged
NASHUA — A Hollis man was arraigned Thursday on a charge that he helped dispose of evidence from the killing of a Mont Vernon woman last month and an attack...
|
|
|
|
|
| Friday, November 20, 2009 |
|
|
|