James K. Polk (1795–1849) was the 11th President of the United States. ... Manifest Destiny—the belief that Americans were destined by God to conquer the continent to the Pacific Ocean—soon came to embody the governing philosophy of the Polk administration and its ardently expansionist aims.
Polk was backed by many in the United States who believed they had the God-given right to rule the territories to the west. ... Manifest Destiny was also provided as a justification to drive Native Americans from their lands in the West to make way for further expansion.
