Expansion- Oregon Territory!

- Americans felt it was our fate and our right to move West! This was called Manifest Destiny.

- In 1844, James Polk (the democratic candidate) favored expanding West and promised to add new land to the U.S. if elected.

- The U.S. shared Oregon with Great Britain, at the time.

- The Oregon Territory contained present day Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and Montana. The land was originally owned by Native Americans who traded fur in this region.

- Polk won the election in 1844 and became President.

- Polk used the slogan “Fifty-four forty or fight!” This was the latitude line of the territory. Polk settled for half. Meaning that half the land was owned by the U.S. and half belonged to Great Britain. The boundary was called the 49th parallel and it went all the way to the Pacific Coast.

- The main route to arrive in Oregon was through the Oregon Trail. Families would meet in Missouri, take wagons to travel through the dangerous trail. They had to cross rivers, snow in the mountains, faced illness, and deal with Indian attacks to travel to Oregon.

- More than 50,000 people completed this journey on the Oregon Trail and settled in the new territory. Many Americans wanted to own Oregon alone. - Negotiation between the U.S. and Britain over Oregon took place. The Oregon Treaty was established.

- The Oregon Treaty of 1846 was between the U.S. and Great Britain and it ended the dispute between border boundaries.

- Polk gained Oregon as a U.S owned territory in 1848 and as a state in 1859