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 school atlas map depicts the United States with its southern boundary along the Missouri River, and its northern boundary extending well into present-day Canada in the Pacific Northwest, reflecting the Oregon boundary dispute. There is a lovely vignette below the title showing a Native American at Lough Water Gap. Engraved by E. F. Woodward. According to David Rumsey, "Tanner supposedly had a part in making this atlas."

References: Rumsey #902.003.

Condition: A

A sharp impression with full contemporary color on a bright sheet with minor soiling and a narrow top margin.