  the united states presidential election of 1844 was the 15th quadrennial presidential election, held from friday, november 1, to wednesday, december 4, 1844. democrat james k. polk defeated whig henry clay in a close contest that turned on the controversial issue of slavery expansion through the annexation of the republic of texas.miller, 1998, p. 481 "...pro-texas southern democrats [would] aggressively inject slavery into politics by their [1844] campaign for texas."wilentz, 2008, p. 559:"texas annexation [became] the overriding issue in the fight for the democratic nomination."finkelman, 2011, p. 26: "james k. polk's victory over henry clay in 1844 was directly tied to the texas annexation question." the general election of 1844 took place in the midst of increasingly bitter congressional disputes over anti-slavery agitation, raising questions as to whether free-soil and slave-soil interests could coexist within a democratic republic.freehling, 1991, p. 558: âagitation over slavery, on both sides, was [by the early 1840s] fair play [and as] never before, anti-slavery radicals had 
Henry_Clay History_of_the_United_States_(1789a1849) James_K._Polk United_States_presidential_election,_1844