ABSTRACT

E x p a n s i o n i s t sent iment was s tronger a m o n g D e m o c r a t s than a m o n g Whigs , and southern D e m o c r a t s in par t i cu lar wanted the U.S. to acquire Texas so as to gain more c o t t o n - g r o w i n g land as well as another slave state . To them, Van Buren's stand was unacceptable . When the party held its convention in Ba l t imore on M a y 27 , the D e m o c r a t s instead nominated J a m e s K. Polk, a Tennessee slaveholder and ardent expans ionis t . George Dal las of Pennsylvania, another expans ionis t , b e c a m e his running mate .