WI: Oregon Territory Goes to Britain?

[Malta]

Just an interest I have been thinking on lately. What if the dispute over the Oregon Territory had been stalled longer? Eventually the US would have went into the Mexican War and gained an increased amount of territory.

Would this have affected negotiations over Oregon/Columbia District? Could the British have pushed for their 42nd Parallel claims on the region?

 

[Umbric Man]

If somehow Britain did gain it, you could possibly see the fabled Dominion of Columbia/*Cascadia/Oregon crop up. Big enough to (eventually) support itself, especially considering British Columbia itself joined Canada on condition of a trans-continental railroad to connect it to Ottawa.

OTOH northerners were expansionistic as much as southerners were, and would howl at the idea of no extra free territory to balance the newly-gained slave-to-be land. Britain and America's leaders, despite popular animosity, were very big on compromise and political goodwill to the other and so the OTL division was seen as extremely fair and worth doing.

 

[EnglishCanuck]

The map of North America is less symmetrical for it.

 

[Minchandre]

I wonder if there would be enough American settlers that it would become a part of the US anyway, sort of like a Canadian Texas.

 

[Thoresby]

I wonder if there would be enough American settlers that it would become a part of the US anyway, sort of like a Canadian Texas.

Considering the OTL numbers of Americans who settled north of the border and Canadians who settled south of the border without having any impact I doubt you'd see any change.

 

[Drunkrobot]

I suppose if the Civil War happens earlier, and the Union has less of an industrial advantage over the Confederacy, then maybe Britain uses financial assistance to leverage a settlement more favourable to them in Oregon.

With a greater disconnect between Russian America and the US, the purchase of Alaska may not become feasible for the Americans to do. If that is the case, then Britain may get Alaska too, with Russia preferring to at least get some money out of the loss of their worthless, isolated colony.

The Simpsons might not exist, as Matt Groening comes from Oregon and Springfield is often thought to be based on Springfield, Oregon.

Plus, YOU HAVE DIED OF DYSENTERY may be a meme contained to British and Canadian gamers for the first few decades of its existence.

 

[wtw]

If you add the US not going to war with Mexico, and independent Texas and CSA, this becomes an Ameri-screw will quick

 

[Napoleonrules]

What extending the existing parallel border across (excluding Vancouver Island) does is that it creates a nice "scientific" border that never changes course (such as a river may), and is easier to to "prove" than using a drainage basin (original border) or continental divide. The HBC for the most part south of that line didn't care too much about whose laws were in effect during the condominium (mostly American law was enforced btw) as long as their fur trading rights were protected; which after buying out John Jacob Astor they were.

Without extending that border there are two options- all goes to Britain (no, won't happen after decades of 54-40 or fight and the sizable American population south of Columbia and Snake) or more likely- columbia and snake rivers and Continental Divide become the border to the existing latitude of America and "Canada" since 1818 when the US last gave up any territory (2 minor river valleys in return for the southern half of the Metis inhabited Red River Colony). Both seem less "easy" than just extending an existing border latitude. Rivers can shift location before any systematic mapping, and disputes of "the river was over THERE when the treaty went into effect" not to mention rivers cause conflict over riparian use, irrigation and damming rights, commerce and shipping, rivers make horrible boundaries (eg-the US and Mexico have had several land swaps in the second half of the 20th century along the Rio, including the Country Club dispute), then there's the problem of the Continental Divide and marking it.

The reason the British came to the conclusion they did when they did was BECAUSE of the Mexican-American War. There's no PoD being mentioned that would make the British suddenly say- "the Americans just mobilized a good sized army and executed a fairly descent campaign using a navy and blockade, occupied Mexico City and could do anything with Mexico they want. They could turn and use it on Canada, let's give them Oregon". The fact is that in 1848 Oregon is going American, as long as there's a Mexican American War.