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====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 "54'5040" 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.
