CANADIAN HISTORY

The 49th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 49° north of Earth's equator. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. When talks between the two nations resumed, the Americans proposed a northern boundary at the 51st parallel; the British countered with an extension of the 49th parallel to the Columbia River. Britain wanted to retain the area north of the Columbia to preserve British commercial interests in the fur trade.