James K. Polk's Ambivalence Toward The Issue Of Slavery May Have Sparked The Civil War.

The debate over how these new territories would change the balance of power between free and slave states raged when Polk's government started expanding westward. Polk, who saw slavery as a minor issue, didn't spend much time or energy on the argument. (Probably due to his own history with slavery. He brought more than 20 slaves to the White House under his ownership.) Polk's ambivalence contributed to so much strife that historians today view his quick westward push as the start of the Civil War.

Polk, like other people of his era, failed “to understand that sectionalism and expansion had formed a new, explosive compound”, according to Pletcher. Polk “lacked a far-seeing awareness of the problems that were bound to arise over the status of slavery in the territory acquired from Mexico”, Fred I said. Greenstein wrote in his journal article on Polk. Polk's “that Polk's deep personal involvement in the plantation slavery system ... colored his stance on slavery-related issues” according to William Dusinberre in his book on Polk as a slave owner.