This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions.
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Pennsylvania, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Pennsylvania on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PennsylvaniaWikipedia:WikiProject PennsylvaniaTemplate:WikiProject PennsylvaniaPennsylvania articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Maryland, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the U.S. state of Maryland on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.MarylandWikipedia:WikiProject MarylandTemplate:WikiProject MarylandMaryland articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject British Empire, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of British Empire on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.British EmpireWikipedia:WikiProject British EmpireTemplate:WikiProject British EmpireBritish Empire articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Geography, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of geography on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.GeographyWikipedia:WikiProject GeographyTemplate:WikiProject Geographygeography articles
Mason–Dixon line is of interest to WikiProject Geographical coordinates, which encourages the use of geographical coordinates in Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.Geographical coordinatesWikipedia:WikiProject Geographical coordinatesTemplate:WikiProject Geographical coordinatesGeographical coordinates articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Popular culture, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.Popular cultureWikipedia:WikiProject Popular cultureTemplate:WikiProject Popular culturePopular culture articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Culture, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of culture on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CultureWikipedia:WikiProject CultureTemplate:WikiProject Cultureculture articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject International relations, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of International relations on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.International relationsWikipedia:WikiProject International relationsTemplate:WikiProject International relationsInternational relations articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Law, an attempt at providing a comprehensive, standardised, pan-jurisdictional and up-to-date resource for the legal field and the subjects encompassed by it.LawWikipedia:WikiProject LawTemplate:WikiProject Lawlaw articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Maps, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Maps and Cartography on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.MapsWikipedia:WikiProject MapsTemplate:WikiProject MapsMaps articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Politics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of politics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PoliticsWikipedia:WikiProject PoliticsTemplate:WikiProject Politicspolitics articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Trade, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Trade on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.TradeWikipedia:WikiProject TradeTemplate:WikiProject TradeTrade articles
Should we add the fact that it runs through the capitals of Ohio (Columbus), Indiana (Indianapolis), and Illinois (Springfield)? Or was it not planned and thus not relevant? Malcolmmwa (talk) 05:25, 21 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
It doesn't run through those capitals. It doesn't even reach the western edge of Pennsylvania. Paulmlieberman (talk) 16:57, 21 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Presumably the poster means that the parallel in question hits those cities pretty closely. We could add it if we had sources saying that those capital locations were chosen for that reason. Otherwise, it seems to be a coincidence not worth mentioning. Mgnbar (talk) 19:29, 21 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Somebody came along on March 14 and anonymously changed an en dash to an em dash in the first use of "Mason-Dixon" in the article, to match the dash in the title. I had never noticed the title has an em dash in it, but there it is. If it is, in fact, an em dash, that's grammatically incorrect (see wp:dash). It should be an en dash throughout the article, including the title. Thoughts? I don't know how to get an article title changed, but it should happen, trivial as it may seem. Paulmlieberman (talk) 13:55, 16 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The Article says "usage came to prominence during the debate around the Missouri Compromise of 1820" of the Mason Dixon Line being known as a boundary between Southern Slave States and Northern Free States. Is this true? Does this invite misconception about the Missouri Compromise? The wiki article about the Missouri Compromise has NO mention of the Mason Dixon Line. The demarcation between free states and slave states during the Missouri Compromise was about slavery in the remaining Louisiana Purchase territory at 36 degrees 30 minutes, very far west of the Mason-Dixon Line and well south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Not sure if the mention of the Missouri Compromise (and further mention of the Civil War boundary issues) in this article is meant to merely suggest that PRIOR usage or colloquial mentions of slave-free borders sometimes mentioned the Mason Dixon Line? Seeing as how there are many misconceptions about the Mason Dixon Line in reference to the Missouri Compromise, I wonder if the article wouldn't benefit from a clarifying edit concerning that. Entrynotfound (talk) 14:28, 4 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you both for raising this issue. I am currently searching for citations re: mention of the Mason-Dixon line during the Missouri Compromise debates. As to the 36'30 line, there was never any intention on the part of Wikipedia to suggest that the line extends past the Pennsylvania border. The particulars of why Oklahoma's northern border is at that latitude is indeed from the Missouri Compromise. Our article states: "When free-soil Maine offered its petition for statehood, the Senate quickly linked the Maine and Missouri bills, making Maine admission a condition for Missouri entering the Union as a slave state. Senator Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois added a compromise proviso that excluded slavery from all remaining lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36° 30' parallel. The combined measures passed the Senate, only to be voted down in the House by Northern representatives who held out for a free Missouri." It was politics, not adhering to the Mason-Dixon line (which lies further north) that led to that particular latitude line being chosen. Paulmlieberman (talk) 21:59, 18 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I have never been able to find an original source for this statement. Note that Britannica on-line says "The term Mason and Dixon Line was first used in congressional debates leading to the Missouri Compromise (1820)."[1] Paulmlieberman (talk) 15:43, 24 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
