Super Hard History question

[Mr.Bazerkus]

Sorry if I not supposed to do this but here goes
This question is supposed to be very hard in the time my teacher has been teaching which is about 6 years only 2 kids have been able to anwer it. When he went over it he basically said #2 is a hard question a very hard question. I've looked everywhere for the answer and I think it has to do with the Oregon Purchase. I'm not sure but that would be my strongest guess right now. Its not in the book because the question says to use other sources. If by any chance anyone knows the answer that would be help.

#2 What was the Geographic features that made the establishment of the Canadian Border just west of the Great Lakes so important to the United States?

 

[M.K]

The Great Lakes feed the Saint Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.

Gah, I take AP Human Geography, I should REALLY know this.

From Wikipedia:

he present border originated with the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which ended the war between Great Britain and the separating colonies which would form the United States. The Jay Treaty of 1794 created the International Boundary Commission, which was charged with surveying and mapping the boundary. Westward expansion of both British North America and the United States saw the boundary extended west along the 49th parallel from the Northwest Angle at Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains under the Convention of 1818. This convention extinguished British claims south of that latitude to the Red River Valley, which was part of Rupert's Land; it also extinguished U.S. claims to land north of that line in the watershed of the Missouri River, which was part of the Louisiana Purchase.[1]
Disputes over the interpretation of boundary demarcation led to the Aroostook War and the ensuing Webster–Ashburton Treaty in 1842, which better defined the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick and the Province of Canada, as well as the border along the Boundary Waters in present day Ontario and Minnesota between Lake Superior and the Northwest Angle.[2][1]
An 1844 boundary dispute during U.S. President James K. Polk's administration led to a call for the northern boundary of the U.S. west of the Rockies to be latitude 54° 40' north (related to the southern boundary of Russia's Alaska Territory), but the United Kingdom wanted a border that followed the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. The dispute was resolved in the Oregon Treaty of 1846, which established the 49th parallel as the boundary through the Rockies. The Northwest Boundary Survey (1857–61) laid out the land boundary, but the water boundary was not settled for some time. After the Pig War in 1859, the San Juan Islands were given to the United States. In 1903 a joint United Kingdom – Canada – U.S. tribunal established the boundary with Alaska, much of which follows the 141st meridian west.

 

[Flamingo]

I was taught this is AP US History... but can't remember... I thought they oset the mark because of a river like they set most boundaries by.

In the US, they usually set boundaries by either rivers, mountain chains, or latitudal lines (or parallels).

 

[Mr.Bazerkus]

^ Well the Oregon treaty was on the 49th parallel of north latitude
@metakirby the question is referring to how it effects the United states not Canada. Though Canada might have something to do with the answer. Actually it most likely does have something to do with it.

 

[Crimson King]

Use the search engine topic in the future.