1844 was a significant year in the history of the United States!
The presidential election of 1844
was one of the most momentous elections in American history. Had Henry Clay won
instead of James K. Polk, we’d be living in a very different country today.
Polk’s victory cemented the westward expansion that brought Texas, California,
and Oregon into the union. It also took place amid religious turmoil that
included anti-Mormon and anti-Catholic violence and the “Great Disappointment,’
in which thousands of followers of an obscure preacher named William Miller
believed Christ would return to earth in October 1844.
Author and journalist John Bicknell
details even more compelling, interwoven events that occurred during this
momentous year: the murder of Joseph Smith, the religious fermentation of the
Second Great Awakening, John C Fremont’s exploration of the West, Charles
Goodyear’s patenting of vulcanized rubber, the near –death of President John
Tyler in a freak naval explosion, and much more—Democrats versus Whigs, Mormons
versus Millerites, nativists versus Catholics, those who risked the venture
westward versus those who stayed safely behind—and how Polk’s election cemented
the vision of a continental nation.
I was inspired by reading this book and learning about so many momentous happenings all in one year.
I believe God led in the things that happened. A quote that I often think of states “Above the distractions of this earth God sit’s enthroned. All things are open to His divine survey, and from his great and calm eternity He orders that which His providence sees best.” By Ellen G White
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