In 1824, President Monroe weighed into the argument of occupying the Oregon territory through a military establishment at the mouth of the Columbia River. The House of Representatives approved a bill sponsored by John Floyd, but it failed in the Senate when opponents of American expansionism killed it. Senator John Barbour claimed that Oregon would never become a state due to the fact that it was so far away from Washington. He calculated the number of days it would take a congressman to travel to and from the mouth of the Columbia River to take 531 days, making it impossible for anyone to represent the state in the capital.
In the years after the War of 1812, debates over the ownership of the northwest coast of America flared up. The Anglo American Treaty of 1819, and the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 established joint ownership of the Oregon Territory between the United States and Great Britain, but Russia continued to claim lands as far south as the 51st parallel. Then on December 19, 1820 Congressman John Floyd presented a resolution to form a committee to look into the possibility of settlements on the Pacific coast and the occupation of territory near the mouth of the Columbia river. The resolution passed, and in 1822 the committee recommended that the United States had justified claims to the territory by right of discovery and possession and should take immediate action to assert those claims by immediately occupying the territory at the mouth of the Columbia River. The committee reported that there was immense value in the fur trade of the country along with military and commercial advantages. The bill initially failed as it got entangled in attempts to accuse John Quincy Adams as neglecting the U.S. interests in the Northwest territory during the Treaty of Ghent negotiations. Despite this initial loss, Floyd reintroduced the bill in 1823 and 1824, each time failing, until President Monroe suggested to Congress in his final State of the Union Address to look into establishing a military base at the mouth of the Columbia River. Monroe may have been persuaded by Floyd's discovery of a letter in 1814 from Jonathan Russell to James Monroe that contained "proof positive" of Adams neglecting the West in his treaty negotiations. Whatever the reasoning, the Monroe administration was now in support of reasserting the United States claim in the Northwest Territory.
"In looking to the interests which the United States have on the Pacific Ocean and on the western coast of this continent, the propriety of establishing a military post at the mouth of the Columbia River, or at some other point in that quarter within our acknowledged limits, is submitted to the consideration of Congress. Our commerce and fisheries on that sea and along the coast have much increased and are increasing. It is thought that a military post, to which our ships of war might resort, would afford protection to every interest, and have a tendency to conciliate the tribes to the North West, with whom our trade is extensive. It is thought also that by the establishment of such a post the intercourse between our Western States and Territories and the Pacific and our trade with the tribes residing in the interior on each side of the Rocky Mountains would be essentially promoted. To carry this object into effect the appropriation of an adequate sum to authorize the employment of a frigate, with an officer of the Corps of Engineers, to explore the mouth of the Columbia River and the coast contiguous thereto, to enable the Executive to make such establishment at the most suitable point, is recommended to Congress."This was just the impetus Floyd needed to reintroduce his bill. Floyd argued of vast riches that could be gained from the Oregon territory, and this time the bill passed in the House with a vote of 113 to 57, but was met with very strong opposition in the Senate. It was a vigorous debate over American expansionism, with the opponents of expansion arguing that the cost of obtaining and holding the Oregon territory far out-weighed the cost. In Floyd's bill, $44,000 was estimated as the cost of establishing a military post, but in the Senate the opponents argued it would require closer to $500,000. Senator James Barbour who would become John Quincy Adams' Secretary of War argued passionately that the Oregon territory was not worth pursuing. Barbour was under the impression that Oregon would never become anything more than a colony, and the United States had not "adopted a system of colonization". Barbour opposed President Monroe's suggestion to take possession of Oregon territory by military force. First, even though the British government had themselves done nothing to take possession of Oregon, any attempts of the U.S. to claim Oregon militarily would be met with "immediate collisions". As Barbour put it, "we can not steal a march upon them; they are always on the alert". Barbour recalled how during the War of 1812, the United States were unable to defend the area and had to give up their claims of Fort Astoria. But even if the United States were successful, Barbour argued that Oregon would never become a state. His arguments seem so arcane today. Here are a few of them.
"But is this territory of Oregon ever to become a state, a member of this Union? Never. The Union is already too extensive - and we must make three or four new states from the territories already formed."
"The distance from the mouth of the Columbia to the mouth of the Missouri, is 3,555 miles - from Washington to the mouth of the Missouri, is 1,160 miles - making the whole distance from Washington to the mouth of the Columbia River, 403 miles - but say 4,650 miles. The distance, therefore that a member of Congress of this State of Oregon, would be obliged to travel, in coming to the seat of Government and returning home, would be 9,300 miles; this at the rate of eight dollars for every twenty miles, would make his traveling expenses amount to 3720 dollars"
"it would require, to come to the Seat of Government, from Oregon, and return, 465 days; and if he should lie by for Sundays, say 66, it would require 531 days."
"Yet a young, able bodied Senator might travel from Oregon to Washington and back once a year; but he could do nothing else"
"If we plant a colony at Oregon, we must protect it, and that at an enormous expense. And what advantage can we expect in return? Surely none."
In February of 1825, the bill was tabled only 24 years before Oregon was admitted into the Union as the 33rd state in 1859 and today has a population of 4 million.
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2017). James Monroe: Eighth Annual Message. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29466 [Accessed 15 Dec. 2017].Benton, T. (1970). Abridgment of the Debates of Congress. [New York]: AMS Press, pgs. 183-188
The John P. Branch historical papers of Randolph-Macon College. (1901). Ashland, Va.: Randolph-Macon Historical Society, pg. 19
En.wikipedia.org. (2017). John Floyd (Virginia politician). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Floyd_(Virginia_politician) [Accessed 17 Dec. 2017].
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