Fifty-four Forty or Fight

"Fifty-four Forty or Fight" was a slogan used in the 1844 U.S. presidential campaign of James K. Polk. It referred to the disputed boundary between the United States and British North America (now Canada) in the Oregon Country. The slogan advocated for U.S. control of territory up to the 54°40′ parallel north latitude.

While Polk's campaign rhetoric fueled expansionist sentiment, the United States and Great Britain ultimately agreed to establish the border at the 49th parallel in 1846. This resolution avoided a potential conflict and defined the boundary of the Oregon Country, which subsequently became a U.S. territory.12