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.

The United States is the main focus of this unusual French map, although it does extend to include Hudson Bay in the north and much of Mexico in the south. There is a vast Missouri Territory in the middle of the country inhabited by Sioux, Osages, and other tribes. The outlines of the state of Missouri appear, but with the name of Jefferson. Below Jefferson is a full-sized Arkansas Territory that stretches into most of present-day Oklahoma. The Pacific Northwest is labeled as Columbia and extends north to the 54th parallel, a reflection of the famous 54-40 or Fight controversy. What would become the American Southwest is still a part of Mexico. Engraved by P. Tardieu.

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Condition: B+

There is a small hole in Missouri Territory and toning along the sheet's edges, well away from map image.