ضم إقليم الأوريجون إلى الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية عام 1846 و الآثار المترتبة عليه

Abstract EN

The study tackles the geographical discoveries in Oregon, the dispute over possessing it, how the United States annexed it, and the Oregon Treaty with its ambiguous items, which resulted in a crisis that put the two countries on the brink of an armed struggle, or what was then called "the Pig War".

Oregon is located along the western coast of North America, surrounded by the Rocky mountains from the East, the Pacific Ocean from the west, California from the south, and Alaska from the north.

The region had witnessed various geographical discoveries, which were taken as a pretext for claiming the right to its possession on the part of the different European powers that took part in those discoveries such as Spain, France, Britain, Russia, and the United States.

However, the quarrel over possessing it in the first quarter of the 19^th century was confined to four countries: Britain, the United States, Russia and Spain.

Then Spain gave up its claims according to Onis Adams Treaty in 1819.

With reference to that treaty, the 42^nd northern parallel separated the Spanish territories from those of America.

In 1824 Russia and the United States signed a treaty, according to which Russia gave up its claims for possessing any territories southern the northern 54^th parallel.

The treaty was ratified after an agreement between Russia and Britain in 1825.

Thus the borders of Oregon were restricted to the 42^nd southern parallel and the northern 54^th parallel.

Hence the quarrel over the possession of the region was limited to Britain and the United States.

In 1818 the two countries signed an agreement which authorized their co-occupation of the region.

Then the two countries held long and intermittent negotiations, which ended with signing an agreement in 1846, according to which Britain ceded the area up to the 49^th southern parallel to the United States.