''Vermont v. New Hampshire'', 289 U.S. 593 (1933), was a
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case holding that the boundary between
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the n ...
and
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. ...
is neither the thread of the channel of the
Connecticut River nor the top of the west bank of the river, but rather the west bank of the river at the mean low-water mark.
History of the boundary dispute
An
Order-in-Council
An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Ki ...
signed by
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Bri ...
on July 20, 1764, said that the boundary between
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. ...
and
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* ...
is the west bank of the river. The order was intended to settle a dispute between New York and New Hampshire in which each claimed the territory that later became the state of Vermont. The disputed territory had been governed for 15 years as a
de facto part of New Hampshire, but the king's order awarded it to New York. On January 15, 1777, Vermont issued its declaration of independence, creating the independent
Vermont Republic
The Vermont Republic ( French: ''République du Vermont''), officially known at the time as the State of Vermont ( French: ''État du Vermont''), was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The ...
. On August 20 and 21, 1781, Congress expressed conditions that must be met before the then-still unrecognized but de facto independent state could be
admitted into the Union. Among the conditions was that Vermont must give up its claims to territory east of the river. On February 22, 1782,
Vermont's legislature complied, and the Supreme Court's opinion in 1933 cited that act.
"Perambulation" by the two attorneys general
In order to assure compliance with the Supreme Court's ruling, in 1935 the legislatures of Vermont and New Hampshire enacted laws requiring the attorneys general of those two states to meet at the river once every seven years to reaffirm their mutual understanding of the location of the boundary.
References
External links
*
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Hughes Court
United States Supreme Court original jurisdiction cases
United States water case law
Geography of Vermont
Politics of Vermont
Geography of New Hampshire
Politics of New Hampshire
Geography of the United States
*
Borders of U.S. states
Internal territorial disputes of the United States
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