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Admin moved page How did the United States resolve its dispute with Great Britain over the Oregon Territory? to How did the United States resolve its dispute with Great Britain over the Oregon Territory
====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 "54'50'' 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.