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 map of British America illustrates the Oregon Boundary dispute, with no boundary delineated in the Pacific Northwest. The boundary is defined along the 49th parallel to the east of the Rocky Mountains, and this line would ultimately be extended to the Pacific Ocean in 1846. There is excellent detail throughout including topography, watersheds, settlements, Indian tribes and more. A key below the title identifies additional features.

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Condition: B

Contemporary outline color with some dampstaining and scattered foxing.