Mason-Dixon line

Mason-Dixon LineThe original line extended from the southeast corner of the colony of Pennsylvania 233 miles west and 82 miles south.

Ma·son-Dix·on Line

M0135800 (mā′sən-dĭk′sən) A line marking the boundary between the colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland, established between 1763 and 1767 by the British surveyors Charles Mason (1730-1787) and Jeremiah Dixon (1733-1779). It was regarded as the division between free and slave states before the Civil War.

Mason-Dixon Line

(ˈmeɪsə n ˈdɪksən) or

Mason and Dixon Line

n (Human Geography) the state boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania: surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon; popularly regarded as the dividing line between North and South, esp between the free and the slave states before the American Civil War

Ma′son-Dix′on line`

or Ma′son and Dix′on line`,

n. the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland surveyed (1763–67) by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, regarded as separating North from South. [1770–80, Amer.]

Thesaurus

Noun

Mason-Dixon line - the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania; symbolic dividing line between North and South before the American Civil WarMason and Dixon line, Mason and Dixon's line

Mason-Dixon Line

Mason-Dixon Line,

boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland (running between lat. 39°43'26.3"N and lat. 39°43'17.6"N), surveyed by the English team of Charles Mason, a mathematician and astronomer, and Jeremiah Dixon, a mathematician and land surveyor, between 1763 and 1767. The ambiguous description of the boundaries in the Maryland and Pennsylvania charters led to a protracted disagreement between the proprietors of the two colonies, the Penns of Pennsylvania and the Calverts of Maryland. The dispute was submitted to the English court of chancery in 1735. A compromise between two families in 1760 resulted in the appointment of Mason and Dixon. By 1767 the surveyors had run their line 244 mi (393 km) west from the Delaware border, every fifth milestone bearing the Penn and Calvert arms. The survey was completed to the western limit of Maryland in 1773; in 1779 the line was extended to mark the southern boundary of Pennsylvania with Virginia (present-day West Virginia). Before the Civil War the term "Mason-Dixon Line" popularly designated the boundary dividing the slave states from the free states, and it is still used to distinguish the South from the North.

Bibliography

See study by E. Danson (2001).

Mason-Dixon Line

boundary between Pennsylvania and Mary-land that came to divide the slave (southern) states from the free (northern) states. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 1714]See: Southern States

Mason-Dixon line

Ma·son-Dix·on Line

Mason-Dixon Line

Mason and Dixon Line

Ma′son-Dix′on line`

or Ma′son and Dix′on line`,

Mason-Dixon Line

Mason-Dixon Line,

Bibliography

Mason-Dixon Line

Mason-Dixon line

Synonyms for Mason-Dixon line

noun the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania

Synonyms