Answer:
The correct answer is A. President Polk had a positive attitude towards the idea of Manifest Destiny, since he was a supporter of American territorial expansion.
Explanation:
James Knox Polk became President of the United States at the age of 49, the youngest by then. His term went from March 4, 1845 to March 4, 1849.
In 1845, the United States accepted Texas into the 28th State. Although Texas had seceded from Mexico as early as 1836, the US decision significantly weakened the country's relations with Mexico. Later, the United States sent troops to secure the controversial border, thus further escalating the dispute. This eventually led to the outbreak of the Mexican American War in 1846. The United States won the war in 1848. In the Peace Treaty, Mexico withdrew all its claims on Texas and ceded the present states of California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. After the war, Polk tried for a moment to negotiate with Spain about buying Cuba, but the Spanish were not interested in the proposal.
In his election campaign, Polk had promised to conquer the Oregon Territory from the UK. However, as president, he did not want to embark on a costly war with the British, but instead began negotiating the surrender of the territories. Polk threatened to go to war if no deal was agreed, thus gaining Britain's current states of Oregon, Idaho and Washington, as well as parts of Montana and Wyoming. Other notable achievements of the Polk presidency included the incorporation of Iowa and Wisconsin into the United States.
