Eh a lot of States are shaped by successive land aquisitions. They are territories then the state borders were defined upon statehood. These aquisitions by conquering or purchase happened over many decades. The national border of the time being adopted as a state border. This were often based on geographical details. After the Louisiana purchase there was a ton of land and it made sense to use a mixture of big squares and pre-existing territory borders. Though big landmarks like the Columbia/Mississippi rivers or mountain ranges play a role.
Though there’s lots of politics involved but there’s skates Wikipedia.
Each state had to agree on the boundaries, and as with all of human history they were quite possessive and possibly greedy. Thats why in the middle of the Mojave Desert the lines are all clean and uniform: nobody was willing to fight over the middle of the Mojave Desert.
EDIT: Also it caused a lot of disputes when rivers were nobody’s territory as they were a major mode of transportation and people on the river or crossing the river would end up being harassed by landowners on either side as if they owned the river.
That’s Oklahoma and everyone in Texas hates it. Anyone who says otherwise is an escaped Oklahoman and the authorities need to be alerted so they can be returned to their isolation
It’s because if Texas claimed territory above where the northern border currently is, they wouldn’t have been allowed to join the Union as a slave state.
I was under the impression a lot of states use rivers or water ways as state lines. Guessing it was that way as it was easiest before gps.
Eh a lot of States are shaped by successive land aquisitions. They are territories then the state borders were defined upon statehood. These aquisitions by conquering or purchase happened over many decades. The national border of the time being adopted as a state border. This were often based on geographical details. After the Louisiana purchase there was a ton of land and it made sense to use a mixture of big squares and pre-existing territory borders. Though big landmarks like the Columbia/Mississippi rivers or mountain ranges play a role.
Though there’s lots of politics involved but there’s skates Wikipedia.
Learn something new every day
Each state had to agree on the boundaries, and as with all of human history they were quite possessive and possibly greedy. Thats why in the middle of the Mojave Desert the lines are all clean and uniform: nobody was willing to fight over the middle of the Mojave Desert.
EDIT: Also it caused a lot of disputes when rivers were nobody’s territory as they were a major mode of transportation and people on the river or crossing the river would end up being harassed by landowners on either side as if they owned the river.
I like how that one state has a thin slice that stops Texas from touching the two above it.
That’s Oklahoma and everyone in Texas hates it. Anyone who says otherwise is an escaped Oklahoman and the authorities need to be alerted so they can be returned to their isolation
Really, that’s just OK taking one for the team. We should encourage their policy of Texas Isolation until they are the only bordering state.
It’s because if Texas claimed territory above where the northern border currently is, they wouldn’t have been allowed to join the Union as a slave state.
The old Oklahoma hug.