Mason-Dixon Line
Pennsylvania-Maryland border survey
The Mason-Dixon Line is the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland, surveyed in the 1760s to settle a colonial dispute.
Before the Civil War, it came to represent the division between free Northern states and slave-holding Southern states.
The term still evokes the cultural boundary between North and South: Everything below the Mason-Dixon Line is sweet tea country.
Line marking a limit
- demarcationFormal boundary setting
- markersPens with porous tips
- stonesSmall hard earth fragments
- milestoneNotable event marking progress
transit · theodolite · chain · benchmark · traverse · triangulation · latitude · longitude
Formal withdrawal from union
- UnionNamed political entity
- ConfederacySecessionist Southern government
- border statesAdjacent countries or territories
- antebellumBefore a war's start
prewar · Southern · states' rights · Dixie · Yankees · conflict · war · divided
Specific regional designation
- SouthRegion with distinct identity
- borderOuter edge or limit
- sectionalSofa made of units
- divideSeparate into parts
rift · schism · polarization · cultural · regional · dichotomy · separation · disunion
Territories prohibiting human bondage
- slave statesTerritories permitting human ownership
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
- fugitiveOne fleeing authorities
- Underground RailroadCovert abolitionist escape network
emancipation · bondage · runaways · Harriet Tubman · North Star · crossing · escape · sanctuary
Of the region below
- drawlUnhurried, elongated speech pattern
- hospitalityGenerous treatment of guests
- sweet teaChilled, sugared leaf infusion
- y'allInformal plural you
regional · accent · culture · stereotype · colloquialism · saying · expression · figurative
boundary
Line marking a limit
- demarcationFormal boundary setting
- markersPens with porous tips
- stonesSmall hard earth fragments
milestone · transit · theodolite · chain · benchmark · traverse · triangulation · latitude · longitude · meridian
secession
Formal withdrawal from union
- UnionNamed political entity
- ConfederacySecessionist Southern government
- border statesAdjacent countries or territories
antebellum · prewar · Southern · states' rights · Dixie · Yankees · conflict · war · divided · contested
North
Specific regional designation
divide · rift · schism · polarization · cultural · regional · dichotomy · separation · disunion · divergence
free states
Territories prohibiting human bondage
- slave statesTerritories permitting human ownership
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
- fugitiveOne fleeing authorities
Underground Railroad · emancipation · bondage · runaways · Harriet Tubman · North Star · crossing · escape · sanctuary · manumission
Southern
Of the region below
- drawlUnhurried, elongated speech pattern
- hospitalityGenerous treatment of guests
- sweet teaChilled, sugared leaf infusion
y'all · regional · accent · culture · stereotype · colloquialism · saying · expression · figurative
- bordersborder, boundary, border crossing, national borders, international borders
- linesparallel lines, intersecting lines, dotted, dashed, curved
- Antebellum Americaantebellum era, Compromise of 1850, sectionalism, states' rights, Fugitive Slave Act
- Border StatesKentucky, Delaware, Missouri, Maryland, West Virginia
- Slavery EscapeUnderground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, runaways, fugitives
- Pennsylvania Dutch CountryAmish, Amish country, Lancaster, Lancaster County, covered bridges
Mason-Dixon LineRio Grande
Major southwestern waterway
Mississippi River · natural boundary · Appalachian Mountains · Rocky Mountains · Continental Divide
Mason-Dixon LineE pluribus unum
Out of many, one
national unity · reunification · Reconstruction · integration · United States
Mason-Dixon Linebridge
Structure spanning an obstacle
transcontinental railroad · interstate highway · trade route · corridor · Erie Canal