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[[File:Oregon_boundary_dispute_map.png|thumbnail|left|300px|Map of the Boundary dispute with the proposed lines and the final 1846 boundary]]
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.
====American immigrants to Oregon Territory exacerbated dispute with Britain====
[[File:James Polk restored.jpg|thumbnail|250px|left|President James Polk - the primary advocate for the 54'40" or fight mantra]] 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.
====The Compromise adopted reflected the British position====
