During the 1844 US presidential election, James K. Polk's primary platform was the expansion of Manifest Destiny focusing on the annexation of Texas and the United States-British Canadian border. He promised the coordinates of Fifty-four - Forty at the Northern border. After he won the presidency men coined the slogan"Fifty-Four - Forty or Fight". Barely escaping war, secretly Polk signed a treaty with England for the Forty-ninth rather than the Fifty-forth parallel. From that point forward many American's and politicians of the era felt he was weak because of his compromise which gave America less land.
As women did not have a political voice during this period of history, their silent voice was heard through textile masterpieces, including the block "Fifty-four -Forty or Fight."
