In 1850, Polk was a delegate to the Nashville Convention, a gathering of Southern representatives to plot strategy regarding the expansion of slavery in territories acquired during the Mexican–American War. In an attempt to counter the secessionist efforts of Fire-Eaters at the convention, Polk, a leader of the moderate Democrats, submitted resolutions that would allow the Southern states to accept the Compromise of 1850.Jonathan Atkins, Party, Politics, and the Sectional Conflict in Tennessee, 1832–1861 (University of Tennessee Press, 1997), p. 167. He would campaign in favor of the Compromise of 1850 in subsequent years, seeing it as the only means of preserving the Union.The Athens Post, 27 June 1851, p. 1.
