However, land disputes were common in the 17th and 18th century because as American wilderness land was sold to English adventurers, the monarchs distributing the land did not have accurate maps, so new land proprietors only had a vague idea of what belonged to them.įor a while, Penn and Calvert each tried to convince the inhabitants of the disputed area that they were citizens of their state and should pay taxes appropriately. One of the reasons why this land dispute was so heated is that the historic city of Philadelphia falls within the disputed territory and both states wanted to claim the landmark as their own. The dispute between the Penns and the Calverts began because they both claimed the land between the 39th and 40th parallels according to the charters granted to each colony. This created what has now been dubbed "The Wedge," although that land is now considered to be part of Delaware. However, the 40 degree latitude line and the circle do not intersect anywhere - in fact, at the closest point, they were 13 miles away. The southern boundary extended eastward along the fortieth parallel of north latitude until it intersected an arc extending in a 12-mile radius from the courthouse in New Castle, which is now in Delaware. Three of the boundaries for Penn's land were quite easy to measure: in the north, Penn's land ended at the 43 degree north latitude line in the west, the land reached until a meridian five degrees west of the Delaware Bay and in the east, the boundary was marked by the Delaware Bay. Nearly 50 years later in 1681, King Charles II gave William Penn the land that would be named Pennsylvania. However, the northern border would become a problem. Three of these borders were created by natural landmarks and were easy to determine exactly when Calvert's land began. The boundaries for Calvert's land were: in the north, the state began at the 40 degree north latitude line in the south by the Potomac River and the latitude through Watkins Point on the Eastern Shore in the east, the Atlantic Ocean and, in the west, by a meridian through the source of the Potomac River. In 1632, King Charles I gave Cecilius Calvert the land that has since been named Maryland. Both colonies' claims to the 40th parallel created conflicts, necessitating the Mason and Dixon survey. In 1681, King Charles II gave William Penn the land down past the 40th parallel.
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