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Okay, it's been proposed that America and Britain almost came to blows over British Columbia in 1846. But was this really likely? Southern Democrats were opposed to expanding into canada and the Northwest, since they had commercial ties to Britain and any northern territory would become free states. (And of course beating up Meixco is way easier than fighting Britain). Whigs didn't care about the issue. North of the 49th Parallel, there were less than a hundred Americans in 1846.

And as for President Taylor? He didn't seem to care that much about the issue. When war clouds arose on the horizon, Wall Street crashed (reflecting the uncertainty and cost of war with the world's greatest power), and the Whigs were in an uproar.

Moreover, I think people don't understand the territory that was really in dispute. Americans had proposed a partition along the 49th aprallel (giving us part of Vancouver Island), while the British ahd proposed running along the Columbia River.




So, how would you get an Oregon War?
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