Mason-Dixon line
The Mason-Dixon Line , named after the astronomer Charles Mason and the geodesist Jeremiah Dixon , forms the historic border between the northern and southern states of the USA . It runs essentially in an east-west direction at 39 ° 43'20 "north latitude .
The line was measured between 1763 and 1767 to determine the current border between Pennsylvania and Maryland and to end disputes between the Penn and Calvert families , who ruled Pennsylvania and Maryland, respectively.
The dispute arose over a faulty map . On its basis, King Charles I's charter , which established Maryland in 1632, granted this colony the Potomac River and the territory south of the 40th parallel. As a result, Philadelphia , the largest city in Pennsylvania, would have been located on the soil of Maryland. Therefore, the Calvert and Penn families commissioned Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon to measure a new valid boundary.
The Mason-Dixon Line was added to the list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1977.
The term "Mason-Dixon Line" is used to this day for the cultural border between the northern and southern states, especially with reference to the question of slavery . He is also one of the possible etymological sources of the terms "Dixie" and " Dixieland ".
Mention in music, literature and film
- One song in which the line comes up is Across the Mason – Dixon Line , a classic example of barbershop .
- The line also plays a role in the song Hey, Porter by Johnny Cash .
- Mark Knopfler published the song Sailing to Philadelphia in 2000 , which tells the story of the two surveyors Mason and Dixon.
- Thomas Pynchon published the novel Mason & Dixon in 1997 based on the genesis of this line.
- Rita Mae Brown lets her novels jacket like pants , bingo and evil tongues play in the fictional place Runnymede, the center of which is exactly divided by the Mason-Dixon line.
- Mason and Dixon played a supporting role in the 1947 film The Undefeated . Reference is made there to the Mason-Dixon lineage.
- In the 2006 film Rocky Balboa , Rocky's opponent, the reigning world champion, is Mason "The Line" Dixon.
literature
- Edwin Danson: Drawing the Line: How Mason and Dixon Surveyed the Most Famous Border in America. 2nd, revised edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York City 2016, ISBN 978-1-119-14187-7 .
Web links
- Sebastian Hollstein: How America's most famous border came about , Spektrum.de, August 31, 2018
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c A Plan of the West Line or Parallel of Latitude . In: World Digital Library . 1768. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
- ↑ https://www.asce.org/project/mason-dixon-line/
- ↑ Lyrics of Hey, Porter
- ↑ Internet Movie Database (English)