Catalog Archive
Auction 120, Lot 153

"Etats-Unis", Vuillemin, Alexander A.

Subject: United States & Canada

Period: 1840 (circa)

Publication:

Color: Hand Color

Size:
10 x 7.5 inches
25.4 x 19.1 cm
Download High Resolution Image
(or just click on image to launch the Zoom viewer)

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.

Great map of the United States showing our claims up into British Columbia to 54°40'. The western territories are large, with the focus on the native tribes in the region. The map is enclosed in a decorative border.

References:

Condition: B+

Nice impression with original outline color. There is a faint stain in the upper left.

Estimate: $90 - $130

Sold for: $45

Closed on 7/18/2007

Archived