The United States of America: State Borders and Other State Facts

By Xlibris US

The United States of America, State Borders and other State Facts Summary:

Learning about what and where state borders are has never been an easier read than in this book. The United States of America, State Borders and Other State Facts is concise and provides for simple to understand north, south, east and west borders as well as providing bordering states and other state facts that are usually scattered throughout a number of other sources. Use this book for one-stop summaries for each state including pre-state status, state flag and other state facts.
Every household interested in U.S. geography should keep this book handy for quick reference. Every library should have this on their shelves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493175758

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Howard Caulfield.

Library of Congress Control Number:           2014903540

ISBN:                  Hardcover                              978-1-4931-7576-5

                            Softcover                                978-1-4931-7577-2

                            eBook                                     978-1-4931-7575-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 04/29/2014

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

606254

Contents

The United States of America

Preface

Expansion and Growth of the United States

Outlying areas of the United States

The U.S. Flag

Foreword

Dedication

Content

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Addendum

Boundaries

Treaties

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription

The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription

The Bill of Rights: A Transcription

Bibliography

Author

The United States of America

Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.

—Theodore Roosevelt

Preface

The first Geological Survey record setting forth the history of the boundaries of the United States and the several States and Territories was prepared by Henry Gannett, assisted by Franklin G. Butterfield, and was published as Bulletin 13 of the Geological Survey in 1885.

There was a second edition published as Bulletin 171 in 1900 and a third edition published as Bulletin 226 in 1904. A revision and enlargement of Bulletin 226 was prepared and issued in 1923 as Bulletin 689 and revised in 1930 as Bulletin 817.

The present bulletin, prepared in 1964, is a revision of the 1932 edition of Bulletin 817. The revisions include clarification and modification of descriptions of certain boundaries, some of which are based on court decisions or international agreements; they also include more accurate figures for certain statistical data and numerous minor additions and deletions as appropriate. Most of the detail compiled for this document was from the most recent Bulletin numbered 1212.

Expansion and Growth of the United States

The original territory of the United States, as defined by the treaties of November 30, 1782, and September 3, 1783, with Great Britain, was bounded on the north by Canada, on the south by the Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the west by the Mississippi River. It included the Thirteen Original Colonies and the areas claimed by them.

One of the difficult problems of the new nation was the existence of extensive unoccupied territory between the Thirteen Original Colonies and the Mississippi River. Seven of the Colonies claimed large parts of this territory and some of the claims were conflicting. Recognizing the possibilities of dispute in this situation, the Continental Congress on October 30, 1779, passed a resolution recommending to Virginia and the other interested States that they refrain from granting the unappropriated lands in the western territory during the continuance of the Revolutionary War.

The seven States claiming these areas responded favorably to this action and during the period from 1781 and 1802 ceded the lands to the Federal Government. These lands, which became the nucleus of the public domain, included the area that is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, part of Minnesota, Alabama and Mississippi. The United States continued to hold title to the unappropriated lands and to administer the laws relating to them.

Outlying areas of the United States

In addition to the United States there are territories under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. They include:

Guam

American Samoa

Virgin Islands of the United States

(St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix)

Puerto Rico

The Northern Marianas

(The Five Largest Islands being Saipan, Tinian, Rota, Pagan and Agrihan)

Additional Outlining Areas

Overseas Military Installations

A.   North and Central America

a.   Greenland

b.   Cuba

c.   Puerto Rico

B.   Europe

a.   Iceland

b.   United Kingdom

c.   Portugal

d.   Spain

e.   Belgium

f.   Netherlands

g.   Germany

h.   Italy

i.   Bosnia

j.   Kosovo

k.   Greece

C.   Middle East

a.   Turkey

b.   Bahrain

D.   Asia

a.   Japan

b.   South Korea

c.   Guam / Marianas

d.   Diego Garcia

The U.S. Flag

Congress, by act approved April 4, 1818, effective July 4, 1818 ordered that the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be twenty stars (there were then 20 States), white in a blue field, and that on the admission of every new State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag on the 4th of July following.

Foreword

My interest in the state locations and borders began in the 1970’s with my use of air travel to get around the country for work assignments. As I became more familiar with the states and their relationship to one another, I was intrigued with their shapes and borders. And, as many people do, I said when I retire, I’m going to write a book.

I want to thank my wife, Edna, for encouraging me to compile this information. She heard me talk about developing this information for so long always believing that I would eventually put pen to paper. She had nothing but patience in continuing to suggest that I just begin the process, confident it would all come together. With her love and knowing that it would be fine, however it turned out, I began and after months of effort, it was finished.

After completing my research for this compilation, it became clear that many of the colonial territories were defined by land grants and disputes decided by proclamation. Many other state borders were defined by river beds or by marked stones of other landmarks. It was also clear that