How the States Got Their Shapes | Mark Stein

How the States Got Their Shapes | Mark Stein | Map-Lover's Delight

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How the States Got...

	How the States Got Their Shapes Mark Stein Collins, 2008 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 41 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

History comes alive

This unique book is a nice combination of text and pictures. It describes the curious process of forming state lines, a process which involved the newly organized Americans in democracy in action. Interesting to children and adults as well. Quite a professional piece of work!!

Map-Lover's Delight

Very informative and entertaining book. Stein explains the reasoning behind all of the straight lines of the states and also of the strange bumps and turns. It was so interesting I read it in two days.

A Quick Look at the Reasons for Boundary Twists, Turns, and Quirks

This book describes more boundary quirks than you have probably ever noticed. If nothing else, you'll know the edges of your state better after looking at this research work.

There are overall explanations that account for the bulk of the boundaries such as the original colonial charters from England and other nations, foreign treaties (such as the one ending the French and Indian War), land purchases (such as the ones for Louisiana and Alaska), borders inherited from England and Spain, borders developed by independent nations (Texas and California), borders affected by slavery (including West Virginia seceding from Virginia), and lines that were disputed and resolved among various states.

You'll learn about surveying mistakes, battles over resources, disagreements about which river branch is the main one, and lots of goofy compromises.

In checking out the states where I have lived, I found only one surprise that I didn't know about. So you may not learn as much as you hope about your home area. But you'll probably learn a lot about places where you rarely go.

If you read this book just for two or three states, that's a mistake. The information isn't all that details or well documented. Check it out of the library if that's your intention.

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How the Stats got their shapes

I had always wondered how the states boundaries were established. This book gives many answers. Most are probably true. There may be more to the stories, but the book is interesting and is a starting point for a conversation.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, page 6, 7, 8, 9

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