Fifty-four forty or fight

Fifty-four forty or fight,

in U.S. history, phrase commonly used by extremists in the controversy with Great Britain over the OregonOregon
, state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It is bordered by Washington, largely across the Columbia River (N), Idaho, partially across the Snake River (E), Nevada and California (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W).
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 country. The rights of the United States, they maintained, extended to the whole region, i.e., to lat. 54°40'N, the recognized southern boundary of Russian America. It was used as a campaign slogan in the presidential election of 1844 by Democrat James K. PolkPolk, James Knox
, 1795–1849, 11th President of the United States (1845–49), b. Mecklenburg co., N.C. Early Career

His family moved (1806) to the Duck River valley in Tennessee and there, after graduating from the Univ.
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, who was elected.