page_850 < previous page page_850 next page > Page 850 much as alcohol enforcement had a half-century earlier. Most of the discussion of these issues took place at the national level, as did most proposed solutions. Yet the distinguishing historical feature of American police, their local funding and control, added a special character to the national problems: they remain local, independent, and a part of city government. Roger Lane, Policing the City: Boston, 18221985 (1967); Eric H. Monkkonen, Police in Urban America, 18601920 (1981); Samuel Walker, Popular Justice: A History of American Criminal Justice (1980). ERIC H. MONKKONEN See also Crime; Draft Riots; Haymarket Affair; Mapp v. Ohio; Miranda v. Arizona; Pinkertons; Prohibition and Temperance; Prostitution. Political Parties See American Independent Party; Communist Party; Constitutional Union Party; Democratic Party; Dixiecrat Party; Federalist Party; Free-Soil Party; Greenback Party; Know-Nothing Party; Liberty Party; National Woman's Party; Party Conventions; People's Party; Republican Party; Socialist Party; Third Parties; Whig Party. Politics, Colonial See Colonial Government and Politics. Polk, James K. (17951849), eleventh president of the United States. Polk was the son of a prosperous Tennessee farmer. His mother, a devout Presbyterian, made an indelible impression on his character, instilling Calvinistic virtues of hard work, self-discipline, individualism, and a belief in the imperfection of human nature. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, he took up the practice of law. In 1825 he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where as a Jacksonian Democrat he distinguished himself as an advocate of states' rights. He served as Speaker of the House (18351839) and governor of Tennessee (18391841). Subsequently twice defeated for reelection to the governorship, he seemed in eclipse until a deadlocked Democratic convention in 1844 unexpectedly nominated him for president. He prevailed over Henry Clay, the Whig nominee, and James G. Birney, the Liberty nominee, becoming a minority president but enjoying majorities in both houses of Congress. The election marked the beginnings of party realignment, and Polk's administration denoted factionalism. Describing himself as "the hardest working man in this country," Polk displayed a quality of leadership that has won for him a high rating by historians. His success is attributable to a well-formulated set of goals, the dexterous use of his cabinet, frequent consultation with congressmen, the establishment of an administration press, and his conception of himself as representative of the whole people. The election of 1844 was virtually a referendum on westward expansion, the Democrats championing "the reannexation of Texas" and "the reoccupation of Oregon." Combining belligerency and tact, Polk arrived at a compromise with Great Britain that set the forty-ninth parallel as the northern boundary of the Oregon Territory, thus securing an excellent harbor on the northwest coast. Texas had been annexed before Polk's inauguration. Wishing to acquire California and New Mexico also, Polk seized on a skirmish between Mexican and U.S. troops as a pretext and in 1846 asked Congress to declare war. His handling of the dispute, his message blaming Mexico for the war, and his zeal for adding territory in the Southwest badly divided the nation. But the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the war gained for the United States the southwestern territory Polk coveted. Polk's negotiations regarding Oregon and military actions in Mexico added 522 million acres to the public domain. Jacksonian principles marked Polk's economic policy. The Walker Tariff of 1846 lowered duties, and the Independent Treasury law restored a federal depository designed to keep public money out of private banks. But the Democrats lost control of the House in 1846, and his   < previous page page_850 next page >