• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

How did the Mason-Dixon Line that divided the free states and slave states in the U.S. get its name?

By Karen Hill

The line that ended up symbolically delineating the border between the North and South was named after two British surveyors who were hired to settle a boundary dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 1760s.

Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were astronomers by training, but their line proved to be more accurate than most surveyors’ lines of the time.

Although their east-to-west line marked the boundary between free states and slave states, their north-to-south line, set up at the same time, didn’t quite have the same symbolic impact.

It ended up being the boundary between Maryland and Delaware.

Related

  • Why did Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon draw the Mason-Dixon line a century before the Civil War?
  • Where does the word "slave" come from and What does slave mean in German?
  • When Was Vietnam Divided Into North and South Vietnam and When Did the Vietnam War End?
  • Where Did the Phrase "A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand" Come From and What Does the Idiom Mean?
  • Why Is the Spring Equinox and Autumn Equinox On Different Dates Each Year and Are the Seasons Divided Equally?
  • Why Is Belgium Called a Divided Country and What Language Do Most People In Belgium Speak?

Filed Under: History

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Accomplishments Animals Culture Finance Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Law Mythology Odds People Plants Religion Science Space The World Universe Your Body

About · Privacy · Contact
Copyright © 2019 Zippy Facts