Appendix III PRESIDENT POLK’S 1848 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS The President shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. —U.S. Constitution Article II, Section 3 President Polk’s State of the Union Address in December 1848 was the one historical document that set the Gold Rush in motion by confirming for the world Marshall’s discovery. This is a considerably abridged version, highlighting the president’s comments regarding the California gold. The world that Polk spoke about is also of specific note to those interested in current events of the nineteenth century. His words echo through the centuries. Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: In reviewing the great events of the past year and contrasting the agitated and disturbed state of other countries with our own tranquil and happy condition, we may congratulate ourselves that we are the most favored people on the face of the earth.
