Oregon
54’ 40 or Fight
Oregon Territory
Along with territorial disputes with Spain
and Mexico over the Southwest, the fate
of the Oregon Territory was one of the
major diplomatic issues of the first half of
the 19th century. The territory became a
focus of those who believed that it was the
United States’ obligation and right to
extend its rule and liberties across the
North American continent
The Oregon Territory stretched from
the Pacific coast to the Rocky
Mountains, encompassing the area
including present-day Oregon,
Washington, and most of British
Columbia. Originally Spain, Great
Britain, Russia, and the United States
claimed the territory
Claims
The U.S. claim was based on the
explorations of Lewis and Clark and
on the establishment of trading posts
set up by John Jacob Astor’s Pacific
Fur Company, such as Astoria at the
mouth of the Columbia River. Great
Britain based its claim, in part, on
James Cook’s exploration of the
Columbia River.
As early as 1818 British and American
Commissioners had fixed the border
between the United States and Canada at
the 49th parallel from the Minnesota
Territory, west to the Rocky Mountains.
The United States had proposed to extend
the border along the same parallel to the
Pacific Ocean, but Great Britain insisted
that the northern border be drawn west to
the Columbia River and then follow that
river to the ocean
The matter remained until the
Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842
partially delineated the northeastern
U.S.-Canada border, but left the
border of the Oregon Territory
unsettled.
By 1843, increased American
immigration on the Oregon Trail to
the Territory made the border issue
a burning one in Congress, where
jingoists raised the slogan of “54
degrees 40 minutes or fight.”
President James Polk, a supporter of
Manifest Destiny with an eye also on
the Mexican Southwest and
California, was eager to settle the
boundary of the Oregon Territory
and proposed a settlement on the 49
degree line to Great Britain