Mason-dixon-line
[mey-suh n-dik-suh n] /ˈmeɪ sənˈdɪk sən/
noun
1.
the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland, partly surveyed by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon between 1763 and 1767, popularly considered before the end of slavery as a line of demarcation between free and slave states.
/ˈmeɪsə n ˈdɪksən/
noun
1.
the state boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania: surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon; popularly regarded as the dividing line between North and South, esp between the free and the slave states before the American Civil War
1779, named for Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, English astronomers who surveyed (1763-7) the disputed boundary between the colonial holdings of the Penns (Pennsylvania) and the Calverts (Maryland). It became the technical boundary between “free” and “slave” states after 1804, when the last slaveholding state above it (New Jersey) passed its abolition act. As the line between “the North” and “the South” in U.S. culture, it is attested by 1834.
A boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, laid out by two English surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, in the 1760s. Before and during the Civil War, the line was symbolic of the division between slaveholding and free states. After the war, it remained symbolic of the division between states that required racial segregation and those that did not.
Part of the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland established by the English surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the 1760s. The line resolved disputes caused by unclear description of the boundaries in the Maryland and Pennsylvania charters.
Note: Though the line did not actually divide North and South, it became the symbolic division between free states and slave states. Today, it still stands for the boundary between northern and southern states.
Read Also:
- Masonite
[mey-suh-nahyt] /ˈmeɪ səˌnaɪt/ Trademark. 1. a brand of hardboard. /ˈmeɪsəˌnaɪt/ noun 1. (Austral & NZ) trademark a kind of dark brown hardboard used for partitions, lining, etc 1926, proprietary name of a type of fiberboard, by Mason Fibre Company, Laurel, Mississippi, U.S. As a word in mineralogy for a type of chloritoid, it honors Owen […]
- Masonry
[mey-suh n-ree] /ˈmeɪ sən ri/ noun, plural masonries. 1. the craft or occupation of a . 2. work constructed by a , especially stonework: the crumbling masonry of ancient walls. 3. (initial capital letter) . /ˈmeɪsənrɪ/ noun (pl) -ries 1. the craft of a mason 2. work that is built by a mason; stonework or […]
- Masonry-cement
noun 1. a mix typically of Portland cement, hydrated lime, and other materials, used to improve the water retention and workability of the cement in masonry work.
- Mason-wasp
noun 1. any of several solitary wasps, as Rygchium dorsale, that construct nests of mud or clay. noun 1. a solitary wasp of the genus Odynerus that excavates its nest in sand or the mortar of old walls
- Masora
[muh-sawr-uh, -sohr-uh] /məˈsɔr ə, -ˈsoʊr ə/ noun 1. a collection of critical and explanatory notes on the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, compiled from the 7th? to 10th centuries a.d. and traditionally accepted as an authoritative exegetic guide, chiefly in matters of pronunciation and grammar. /məˈsɔːrə/ noun 1. the text of the Hebrew Bible […]