Since 1732, when Georgia was created out of South Carolina territory, the boundary between the two states has been disputed. This controversy reignited in the 1970s, culminating in a suit filed by Georgia in the U. S. Supreme Court to ascertain the location of the true boundary line between the states. De Vorsey's book grows out of this controversy and is a detailed examination of the historical geography of that boundary. After reviewing the events that led to the 1977 litigation, De Vorsey provides a detailed analysis of Georgia's original charter and the 1787 Treaty of Beaufort--two documents crucial to an understanding of the dispute. Using documentary and cartographic resources, he reconstructs the geographical conditions that existed at the time the documents were drafted and investigates how eighteenth-century Georgians and South Carolinians perceived these conditions. In the course of his inquiry he discusses the tremendous natural forces that have sculpted and re-sculpted the unstable shorelines and islands formed by geologically youthful delta sediments. He considers, too, the impact of man on the environment as he attempted to control nature and improve navigability on the Savannah River. The study concludes with a discussion of the particular areas of the Savannah River's shores and islands involved in the Supreme Court litigation.

The Code of Federal Regulations is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

With the exception of oceans, boundaries are artificial, man-made divisions of geography that many times make little sense and sometimes no sense at all. For example, why does the northern boundary of Minnesota protrude into Canada? Why does West Virginia have two panhandles? Why do Pennsylvania and Delaware have a common boundary that is a circle segment? Why do the boundaries of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah consist entirely of lines of latitude and longitude? The answers to these questions and many more can be found in this book, which explains why and how state boundaries are placed where they are. It begins with an introduction that provides general information about boundary placement, colonial boundaries, formation of territories, surveying and Supreme Court rulings. The 50 states are divided into ten regions (New England, Mid-Atlantic, Upper South, Lower South, Great Lakes, North Central, South Central, Rocky Mountain, West, and Noncontiguous). The text for each state begins with an overview of that state's boundaries that becomes more specific as its different boundaries are considered. The appendices include interesting facts about each state, citizen and state nicknames, and dates territories were created and states entered the Union. Richly illustrated with 138 maps.