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.

These three examples of Flemming's map of British America appear identical at first glance, however, their treatment of western boundaries is quite different. The 1844 map shows British claims into Oregon Territory with Mexico controlling the south. The 1846 map reflects the settlement that was reached in the same year by the United States and Canada along the 49th parallel with Mexico still in control of California and the Southwest. The 1850 map reflects the lands gained by the United States as a result of the Mexican-America War, with California shown here as a U.S. possession. In each of the three maps, Canadian provinces are named and delineated with details including watersheds, small settlements, and Indian tribes.

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Condition: B+

Contemporary outline color with some scattered foxing. The 1846 and 1850 maps have some toning and dampstains mostly along the sheet edges.