 Monticello Convention

The Monticello Convention refers to a set of two separate meetings held in 1851 and 1852 to petition Congress to split the Oregon Territory into two separate territories; one north of the Columbia River and one south.The influx of people settling on the north side of the Columbia River in the 1840s, then under the jurisdiction of the Oregon Territory, caused political conflicts over the lack of basic needs addressed by the territorial government.