Oregon Admitted to the Union
Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state on February 14, 1859, following a complex history marked by territorial disputes and the contentious issue of slavery. Originally claimed by both the United States and Great Britain, the Oregon region was jointly occupied until a compromise established the 49th parallel as the border in 1846. The establishment of the Oregon Territory occurred in 1848, despite Southern opposition to a non-slavery territory. The arrival of American settlers via the Oregon Trail and land legislation, such as the Donation Land Act, spurred population growth and prompted tensions with Indigenous tribes. By 1856, discussions surrounding statehood began, culminating in a state constitution drafted in 1857, which included a significant anti-slavery stance from the local populace. Ultimately, Congress narrowly approved Oregon's statehood just months before the Civil War, highlighting the deep national divisions of the time. This admission not only shaped Oregon's identity but also reflected the broader conflicts that would lead to significant national upheaval.
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Oregon Admitted to the Union
Oregon Admitted to the Union
On February 14, 1859, Oregon joined the Union. Although Oregon's admission to statehood was considerably complicated by the dispute over slavery, this 33rd member managed to overcome these difficulties and gain statehood just months before slavery divided the United States and threw the country into the Civil War.
The first government in Oregon came into existence during the period when both the United States and Great Britain (which still occupied Canada) claimed the area between the 42nd parallel on the south and parallel 54° 40´ on the north. The two countries jointly occupied the Oregon Country, which included the present-day state of Washington, under an 1818 agreement. A limited form of local self-government was established in 1841. In 1843 came the first really large group of American settlers to reach the area by means of the Oregon Trail, the vanguard of a tide of travelers that would swell to a flood. By 1844 the expansionist demand “Fifty-four forty or fight!” had become a Democratic campaign slogan, meaning that the United States should seize control of the whole Oregon area up to the northern 54° 40´ parallel.
When the inhabitants of Oregon received word in 1846 that the United States and Great Britain had reached a compromise establishing the 49th parallel as the boundary between the United States and Canada in the Oregon region, they expected that the U.S. Congress would quickly provide a territorial government for their region. President James K. Polk recommended territorial status for Oregon, and a bill was introduced in Congress that would have brought such a government into existence. However, southern congressmen feared the creation of a northern territory in which slavery would almost certainly be outlawed. They therefore prevented passage in 1847 of the legislation necessary to bring the Oregon Territory into being.
In November 1847 members of the native Cayuse tribe killed the Protestant missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and other members of the mission established at Waiilatpu, near the site of present-day Walla Walla, Washington. This incident precipitated clashes between the Cayuse tribe and the Oregon settlers, and the emergency situation forced Congress in 1848, to reconsider territorial government for that portion of the Pacific Northwest lying below the 49th parallel. In 1848 southern congressmen again attempted to block the creation of a territory where slavery would be outlawed, but this time they did not succeed. The bill organizing an Oregon Territory without slavery—containing the area bounded by the 42nd and 49th parallels, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean—passed both houses of Congress on August 14, 1848, and the measure was signed by President Polk.
Polk immediately appointed a governor and other officials for the new territory. They arrived in Oregon City on March 2, 1849, and the following day the territorial government of Oregon was established. In 1853, Congress reduced the size of Oregon by separating the region north of the Columbia River to form the Territory of Washington. Oregon assumed its present dimensions south of the Columbia and the 46th parallel.
For more than a year after Oregon's acquisition of territorial status, Congress took no action to confirm the land titles of settlers in the Pacific Northwest. Then, in September 1850, Congress approved the Donation Land Act. This legislation guaranteed 640 acres to every married couple that settled in the territory before December 1, 1850, and stipulated that half this acreage belonged outright to the wife. The law also provided 160 acres to each husband and an additional 160 to each wife who took up residence in Oregon after December 1, 1850, but before December 1, 1853.
The Donation Land Act and the discovery in 1848 of gold in nearby California spurred the growth of Oregon, which in turn caused troubles. In 1853 Native American uprisings began in southern Oregon, where recently arrived settlers had displaced the tribes from their lands. Hostilities continued for several years, but by 1858 the native tribes had been defeated and confined to several reservations located along Oregon's northern coast and in the relatively barren eastern portion of the territory.
Congress took up the subject of statehood for Oregon in 1856. The House of Representatives passed an enabling bill that authorized the territory to call a convention to draw up a state constitution, but the Senate defeated the measure, again due to resistance from southern politicians. Even antislavery Republicans were wary of admitting Oregon, which had a reputation for favoring the Democratic Party.
Undaunted, the residents of Oregon in 1857 voted overwhelmingly to form a state government. In accordance with the popular will, the territorial legislature summoned a constitutional convention, which opened on August 17, 1857. When Oregon citizians went to the polls on November 9, 1857, to vote on the proposed constitution, its supporters won by a majority of 3,980 votes. An even larger majority of 5,082 voted against slavery. Congress was still bitterly divided on whether to admit the territory to the Union, but on February 14, 1859, it voted, by an extremely narrow margin, for admission.