Boundaries: How the Mason-Dixon Line Settled a Family Feud and Divided a Nation

by Sally M. Walker

The Mason-Dixon Line’s history, replete with property disputes, persecution, and ideological conflicts, traverses our country’s history from its founding to today.

We live in a world of boundaries — geographic, scientific, cultural, and religious. One of America’s most enduring boundaries is the Mason-Dixon Line, most associated with the divide between the North and the South and the right to freedom for all people. Sibert Medal–winning author Sally M. Walker traces the tale of the Mason-Dixon Line through family feuds, brave exploration, scientific excellence, and the struggle to define a cohesive country. But above all, this remarkable story of surveying, marking, and respecting lines of demarcation will alert young history buffs to their guaranteed right and responsibility to explore, challenge, change, and defend the boundaries that define them.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, American History, Middle Grade, Historical, Geography, Childrens

208 pages, Hardcover

First published March 11, 2014

About the author

Sally M. Walker has written science books for children, including Earthquakes, an NSTA/CBC Best Science Trade Book of 1997. She lives in DeKalb, IL.

Reviews

[Jane Drabkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A former Pennsylvanian that has enjoyed Walker's other books, I looked forward to reading this piece of colonial history, but this got way too technical for me. Walker's premise that we all face boundaries of many types seemed rather ungainly and tacked on to give her permission to discuss religious and cultural ideas. All the boundary business just seemed heavy-handed and unnecessary. Walker tells a fascinating story about the Penn and Calvert families and their original grants from the king. One quarter of the way through the book, Mason and Dixon appear and Walker begins to explain how surveying works interspersed with Mason and Dixon's trek along the border. I was able to keep up to with the science for awhile and was enjoying it, but as it got more and more technical I got lost. Sadly, I discovered that I couldn't get back to the history at this point. I kept losing the thread. Perhaps, with different organization I might have been able to keep up.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I were being 100% literal, I would probably give this one star, because for a great swath of my reading time, I hated this book. But, I respect the amount of research that went into it too much to be so negative. That said, I literally cannot imagine any circumstance in which I recommend this book. And it makes me sad because I think the topic has tremendous potential and, based on a other things that I've read by Walker, she has the ability to make it compelling.

But it just wasn't. At all. Like, I can not emphasize enough how not-readable it was. And I suspect that I am probably more interested in maps and map making than your average reader. But, just bone dry text and awkward placement of side-topics and pretty static illustrative material. Even stuff that should have been exciting - raids! riots! feuds! danger! - was rendered so completely bloodless by the exhaustive detail with which it was recounted (not to mention in pretty staid "first they did this, then they did this and finally they did that"). And the more tedious aspects of surveying fared even worse. I think that there's such a thing as too literal and exacting, especially when writing for a general audience, and this is a prime example of it.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't realized that this book was TEEN until I got it home from the library. I grabbed it from a history shelf as an impulse read. I've lived in Maryland since the 1970s but did not go to school here, so I don't know a lot of detail about Maryland history. We frequently cross the Mason-Dixon line all along the north border of Maryland, and driving north on I-95 has taken us many time through the irregular border intersections of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. I've long been curious abut the Mason-Dixon line and this book wasn't too think, so I took the book home.
It was an excellent read. Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon are now, for me, on a par with Lewis & Clark. They attempted an ambitious project, in uncharted wilderness, and accomplished setting highly accurate mapping with the finest technology of their day. They were accompanied by a dedicated and talented team without whom they could not have accomplished their task.
The author's explanation of the celestial measurements and intricate mathematics were well done, but I was glad of the TEEN rating as even at this level it made my head spin.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not very often that you see a book that so perfectly intertwines history, politics, science and technology, but Sally Walker makes it all work. My vague notion of the "Mason-Dixon line" before reading BOUNDARIES was that it was some sort of, uh, railroad. But it was actually a triumph of technology, a painstakingly marked survey line designed to settle long-standing political and territorial disputes that had brewed ever since the European settlement of colonial America. While telling the story of the Mason-Dixon line Walker uses the concept of "boundaries" not just as lines on a map but as a way of thinking about America itself. Eye-opening for adults as well as young people.

[Jules Bertaut · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice book for children about the Mason-Dixon line, mostly focusing on how and why it was made. The book does kind of kind of gloss over the conflicts between settlers and Indians, but actually less so than I anticipated. It also discusses the significance of the Mason-Dixon line as the boundary between free and slave states, although I would have liked it to talk about that a little more.

The book gave, I think, a pretty good description of the techniques Mason and Dixon used in their surveying, enough that you could feel like you understood what they were doing, without getting bogged down in the actually quite complicated mathematics they were doing.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for professional publication.

[Elizabeth Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I admire the amount of research that went into this book, I really did not enjoy reading it. It was so unbelievably dry.

[Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sally M. Walker’s “Boundaries: how the Mason Dixon line settled a family feud & divided a nation”, is a very long read, not because the book itself is long, but if you want to understand the science behind it, you will have to read every little extra page and sidebar. I personally liked the book. Being able to read something versus understanding it is very different. I like to learn how things work, and this book gave me a lot of questions.
The Zenith sector portion was a little harder to understand. I had to read it through multiple times to figure it out in my head. I liked that part of the book, but I know it’s not for everyone. Overall I think it took too long for me to read but I can't get over my curiosity.
One thing I didn’t like about the book is that it feels like the author who wrote it was from the colonial period. Very neat, posh is the perfect description. The fancy language took me a little bit to get used to. I think the difference in language is because of, coincidentally, the Mason-Dixon line and southern and northern slang.
Overall good read, I just got way into it.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 7th grade son read this and really liked it. Based some of the other reviews here I did not expect him to finish it, but he remained very interested throughout the whole book. He kept coming and telling me things he learned. It details how two men, Mason and Dixon, drew the straight line dividing Pennsylvania and Maryland using fancy science and math. The reasons for this line go back to the 1600s and the story starts there. There is a little about the Civil war but it is not the focus of this book.

[Shanique Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great history of the Mason-Dixon line pitched at a younger audience (e.g. it says that Henry VIII formed the Church of England because of personal and political differences with the Catholic church...*cackles*)

[Lonette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was interesting, but it wasn't gripping. We read it for a book club that I'm in. I enjoyed learning about the background of the Mason-Dixon Line, but probably won't read it again.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t realize this was a children’s book when I checked it out. I thought it was short but now it makes sense.

[Ms. P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surveying the Mason-Dixon line in the 1760s in minute detail

[Stan Golanka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written book about M&D and their impact. Great companion to Pynchon's M&D.

[Stuart Levy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like non-fiction, and I did enjoy the history of this one, but it's not nearly as well-written as some other great YA authors.

[Vera Godley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I anticipated Boundaries to be a middle-school non-fiction read focusing on the Mason-Dixon Line and it's role in the War Between the States (Civil War) in the United States. That is not the case. I found Boundaries to be a somewhat dull read that most likely will best benefit students in high school engaged in a project directed by a teacher who desires to bring extra information into the study of American history.

However, the author writes beautifully! I can see this as a good book for homeschool or classroom studies to be read aloud and discussed. A teacher reading this aloud (the text flows beautifully) and then working her students through the somewhat tedious material that is included (due to the scientific nature of surveying) can bring to her students a subject that is different and encompassing several areas of study all in one interesting endeavor.

Boundaries covers a period from the early colonization days of America and through the Civil War era. Early settlers and recipients of land grants, the families of William Penn and Cecil Calvert held vastly different religious beliefs - Catholic and Protestant.

In later years the Mason-Dixon Line was considered a demarcation between areas of Slavery and Non-Slavery.

In the book, Boundaries, the science behind surveying the land for the boundary of lands possessed by Penn and Calvert is not what one would expect in a "history" book and I perceive it as a bit too detailed for this book. However, touching on the subject brings depth and realism to the historical context.

I found it interesting that the Mason-Dixon line has a life prior to it's utilization during the Civil War. I found the history of the area now known as Pennsylvania and Maryland interesting. Messrs. Mason and Dixon undertook a massive task to survey this area and did it well.

The author has done a tremendous amount of research. While I did not find the book especially to my liking, I do believe it will serve a purpose in the education of older middle school students and high school students when in a directed study by a teacher.

DISCLOSURE: I was provided a complimentary copy by Candlewick Press on behalf of the author for the purpose of a review. Opinions expressed are solely my own. I received no compensation for this review.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sure everyone has heard of the Mason Dixon line. A lot of people may know that it was used to divide the country into slave and nonslave states. Few people might know that it all started because of a boundary dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland. I had some vague knowledge about the Mason Dixon line before reading this book, but I really had no idea about its true origins. Mason and Dixon were hired to survey the true boundaries between Pennsylvania and Maryland because no one really knew what they were. It took them years to do the survey, but the border lines are still those used today.

Obviously the information in this book was really interesting and I am a big fan of Sally Walker; however, I felt the execution of this book fell short. The first big issue is the side bars. Children's nonfiction always has sidebar information which is usually little tidbits about different aspects of the subject discussed. I love them and wholeheartedly think they should be in children's nonfiction. They generally add a depth to the information that was missing. However, the sidebars in this book are terrible. Instead of being nicely separated by a box or off in the margins they are just big block paragraphs in italics. To make things even worse they are always placed in the middle of text; sometimes in the middle of a paragraph that splits between pages. It was horribly distracting and a terrible way to set up a book.

The second issue was how technical this book got which made it boring! I really enjoy history and this was a story I wasn't aware of. The bits about William Penn and George Calvert and why they founded their colonies was interesting. The story of Mason and Dixon was interesting. The long paragraphs about how you measure by the stars and what the instruments did was boring. It got so technical that my eyes glazed over. I found myself skimming long paragraphs of technical crap until the story picked up again. If I can't take it then I am sure the intended audience of kids won't be able to either.

I had high hopes for this book and was soundly disappointed. Thankfully I did learn something from it.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

While American history is not my favorite subject, I did enjoy various aspects of Boundaries: How The Mason-Dixon Line Settled A Family Feud and Divided a Nation. I can appreciate the thoroughness of the research and the organization of the narrative.

It's a broad subject. The book begins in England and follows two men who established colonies in the New World. One man, a Catholic, the second man, a Quaker. One would establish Maryland, the other would establish Pennsylvania. It follows those two families for a chapter or two pointing out the disputes and troubles regarding the border or boundary between the two colonies. It points out that there were regions that BOTH claimed and that BOTH tried to tax settlers. So one governing body could say pay taxes to me, not them. Readers could see how residents could find it frustrating and confusing. Most of the book, however, is about two men, two scientists: Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. It goes into great detail about HOW the two men surveyed the land, walked the three lines to establish boundaries. It is very science-y, very technical. It shares details about their work, their crews, their journeys, their guides, etc. This project lasted several years. One chapter focuses on the Mason-Dixon line as symbol of free states and slave states, a division of North and South. That chapter discusses about two hundred years worth of history. The last chapter is an odd one. It brings the Mason-Dixon line into contemporary times; it speaks of the men and women who have taken an interest in it, have taken an interest in the boundary stones, who have set off on a quest to find the original markers, or, who have worked to get historical markers for the region in various locations.

I found this one to be a bit dry in places.

[Gina Schaarschmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for geeks. Engineering geeks. Math geeks. History geeks. Geography geeks. But not really for casual readers. Some reviewers thought it was tedious with all the detail; it had me marveling at how the heck a job like that could be accomplished without modern technology. It reminded me of Zebulon Pike's trek across the West a couple of decades later. Yes, very technical. And very cool.

The only issue I had was with the sidebars. Not only did they interrupt the text, they usually came too late. I found myself wondering about certain details or feeling confused at several points in the narrative. I would stop reading and ask my engineer-with-surveying-experience husband to explain. He would happily (with obvious enthusiasm!) bring light to my confusion and I would go back to reading. Half the time, my question would be answered in a sidebar two pages later. Sometimes, the question wouldn't be answered in the book at all.

But that didn't spoil my experience. I loved it. It's not for everyone, though. Definitely for geeks.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love maps and history, but this was not as good as I thought it would be. And it is not anything I'd recommend to a teen interested in trying good non-fiction. The theme, vocabulary, and pacing will not provide a good experience.

It got a little better as it went on. To me, the adventures Mason and Dixon had while actually traversing the line with a crew of men, chopping down any trees in their path, were pretty interesting. I learned that gravity is different on a given spot on Earth just miles apart. Weird.

I do appreciate that now I have a 100% better understanding of the origin of the name of the Mason-Dixon line and when and how it was plotted. However, the book is too wordy and esoteric to be interesting to the YA target audience I think. The line did take on a cultural significance, but I felt that aspect got rushed into one chapter while the conflation of that cultural North/South line with confronting personal boundaries just fell flat for me.

[Laura Cushing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account of how Mason and Dixon surveyed the land in colonial times and set up the Mason-Dixon line. Goes into detail about the conflicts of where boundaries lay, and into what instruments and techniques they used, and what difficulties they encountered.

For those who complained that it was too technical and dry a subject....well it's about surveying boundaries and how it was accomplished. If you expected romance and mystery, maybe you were reading the wrong book.

I found interesting because I like to learn about how our nation was formed, and I didn't know anything about surveying so I learned a lot.

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well-researched and enhanced with illustrations, maps, and photographs, this is a dry history of the Mason-Dixon Line, the boundary most students associate as the dividing line between the North and South during the Civil War. Walker, winner of the Sibert Award for nonfiction, stretches this impression to consider boundaries that define the reader, such as geography, culture, and religion.

Walker traces the tale of the Mason-Dixon Line through family feuds, exploration, and scientific approach of the surveyors. Student researchers will find that this is the “Go-To” book on this historical mapping venture, although it will hold little appeal for casual readers.

[Margie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An all-encompassing book which included not only history but also geography, astronomy, mathematics and social studies; there's something for everyone here. Most people think of the Mason-Dixon line in relation to the Civil War but have no idea its history actually dates to pre-Revolutionary days. Mason and Dixon were English and hired to survey boundary lines defining Delaware and especially Maryland and Pennsylvania. A fascinating, mostly unknown, bit of U.S. history which is now coming to light.

[Rani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent introduction to the Mason-Dixon Line that traverses the history of America. Starting from the religious persecution in England that led people to immigrate to America, it takes the readers through the impossible feat of surveying the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland and the divide between the North and South of America. A wonderful book for older readers. Highly recommend this for Middle School and High school students.

[Amy Formanski Duffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-researched story of how the founders of Pennsylvania and Maryland defined their borders. But it's extremely detailed and technical in telling how Mason and Dixon used their knowledge of astronomy and surveying to complete their task. Lots of latitude and longitude and math. History and math geeks will love this, but are teens in general going to pick this up for fun? Um, nope. It's too copy-heavy and technical for light reading, but fab for research.

[Lin Lin]

This fascinating non-fiction book reads like fiction, fully packed with twists and turns of real characters and events in history. The Mason-Dixon Line, an Invisible line serving as geographical boundaries between Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, is never just about locations of land posts that mark the limits of a place. It is at the same time political, economic, social and cultural boundaries that witnessed historical events and testified who had the power to draw the line.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written but picture placement didn't work well the text at all. It started page 1 for me when I'm introduced to Calvert & all I get is a tiny pic of him on the next page.

Also, this was published in 2014, right? Why are all the pictures in black & white?

I would have loved to read this in a smaller adult book form, but this is being marketed as young adult. I don't care so much about the pictures situation but I'm sure they will.

[Sarah]

I gave it 40 pages and had to stop because other books were calling me. I love Sally Walker (she's an awesome booktalker and Illinois author), but I just can't read this unless I'm doing a report on the Mason-Dixon line. It would be a good addition to school nonfiction shelves and really gets into STEM topics, too.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book really dragged and I can't imagine children sloughing through it. Its dry and complex, throwing around way too many names and places. It clearly is well researched, but it veers between no nuance and way too much.

[Vilo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history of how the Mason-Dixon line came to be with a brief discussion of what significance it came to have later. The detail on surveying techniques of the day is fascinating--also the daily life details of scientific endeavor in a time before the American Revolution are fascinating.