The United States and Great Britain established in 1818 joint claim over the Oregon Territory - the region north of Spanish controlled Upper California up to the southern boundary of Russia's Alaska Territory at North latitude 54°40'. By the late 1830's this arrangement was beginning to fall apart. In the 1840's the expansionist Democrats, including their 1844 presidential candidate, James Polk, claimed the entire region for the United States. Their expansionist desires were expressed by Polk's famous campaign slogan, "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" The slogan also became a rally cry for Americans desiring to settle the territory. Following Polk's election, the dispute was resolved by the 1846 Treaty of Oregon, which struck a compromise that fixed the U.S./Canadian boundary at 49º North.

This interesting map of North America depicts the Republic of Texas in its larger stovepipe configuration. The large Wisconsin Territory lies above Illinois while Michigan Territory is confined to the east of Lake Michigan. West of the Missouri River only Indian Districts are named. The border with Canada and the United States is left blank in the area disputed by Britain and the United States. The map extends to include the Sandwich Islands, which is unusual for a map of this period. Engraved by L. Thiel and published in Stieler’s Hand Atlas.

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Condition: B

Original color with minor toning, scattered foxing, and a small edge tear confined to the lower blank margin closed on verso with archival tape.