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 rare and fascinating map appears to have come from an early educational atlas published by the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, which was established in 1845. It depicts the United States with some interesting territorial configurations in the west. 25 states are identified, with Michigan shown as a state and Arkansas still a territory. The Republic of Texas is depicted in a squat configuration, with an odd Ozark Territory to its north. Oregon Territory extends into Canada, reflecting the Oregon boundary dispute. California and the Southwest are still Mexican possessions. The Great Salt Lake is delineated with incomplete boundaries. A table at right identifies states and colonial possessions.

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Condition: B+

There is light soiling and a few manuscript notations. The sheet has been backed with archival materials, repairing a horizontal misfold and a short edge tear that enters that just enters the border at top. The margin has been extended at left with old paper.