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346.
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made to Canton from the United States.
1
Throughout the 1820 s Congressional supporters of
American settlements in the Northwest continued to base their
position on the importance of such establishments to the Amer
ican China trade. Led by Floyd, they nevertheless failed to
21
obtain the House's approval for various proposals. Although
in December 1824 the House finally passed a bill to occupy
the Northwest (or Oregon), the bill never became law. Through
out these years the Executive conducted negotiations with
22
Russia over the latter's claims to the Northwest. Congress
did not even take note of these or of Russia's relinquishing
its claims in 1824 to the English. In 1828-29 Floyd was
instrumental again in offering a bill to the House "to auth
orize the occupation of the Oregon River," a bill that would
require the American government to oversee settlement of the
Northwest Coast. As before, Floyd argued that future American
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U.S., Congress, House, 17th Cong., 2nd sess., Annals
of Congress, 398.
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Bills were proposed in 1822 and 1823, and all were
voted to committee, which by 1823-24 had grown to seven members.
Floyd continued to serve as its chairman. U.S., Congress,
House, 17th Cong., 1st sess., Annals of Congress, 560-61; 17th
Cong., 2nd sess., Annals of Congress, 396-424; 18th Cong., 1st
sess., Annals of Congress, 890. At the same time Benton intro
duced the question into the Senate. See Benton, Thirty Years'
View, I, 13-14; U.S., Congress, Senate, 17th Cong., 2nd sess.,
Annals of CoQgress, 246-51.
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American merchants in the Northwest fur trade to Canton
1
protested to the State Department in the early 1820 s that Rus
sians were forcing American vessels off the Coast. The Americans
also wanted indemnity for their lost trade. Letter, Bryant &
Sturgis to J.Q. Adams, Apr. 21, 1823, Bryant & Sturgis MSS. For
a discussion of American negotiations over the Northwest in the
1
1820 s, see Bancroft, History of the Northwest Coast, II, 348-54.
