It was the battle cry for people during the 1840s who wished to expand the US into Canadian territory. This was specifically used in the election of 1844 in which democratic candidate Polk tried to get expansionist votes.
The dispute originated from the claim that Oregon territory extended into Canada to the latitudinal line 54 40' degrees. However, in 1846, the Treaty of Oregon established that the US territory ended at the 49 degree line, the current boundary.
Batman
"Fifty-Four Forty or Fight" referred to a boundary dispute between the United States and Great Britain over the Oregon Territory. The phrase represented the northern latitude line of 54 degrees 40 minutes, which some American expansionists sought as the northern boundary of Oregon. The dispute was ultimately resolved through diplomacy, leading to the Oregon Treaty of 1846, which set the boundary at the 49th parallel.
batman
The phrase "forty winks" comes from an issue of Punch Magazine in 1872. This article was describing the Articles of Faith found in the Church of England.
In the King James version the phrase - four hundred and forty four - does not appear at all. Nor does the phrase - four hundred - appear in any verse with the phrase - forty four.
"Fifty-four forty or Fight"
fifty four forty or fight
James Polk!
The phrase "Open Sesame" allowed Ali Baba to enter the cave of the forty thieves in the story "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" from One Thousand and One Nights.
James Knox Polk.
James K. Polk :)
The dusty old California miner was referred to as a "forty niner".