Twenty Unsettled Miles in the Northeast Boundary [From the Report of the Council of the American Antiquarian Society, presented at the Annual Meeting held in Worcester, October 21, 1896]

"Twenty Unsettled Miles in the Northeast Boundary" by Thomas C. Mendenhall is a historical account written in the late 19th century. This book delves into the complexities and disputes surrounding the northeastern boundary of the United States, specifically focusing on the twenty miles of territory whose jurisdiction has been contentious for nearly three centuries. It presents an examination of historical treaties, diplomatic negotiations, and the geographical intricacies that have contributed to this unresolved issue. In this work, Mendenhall provides a detailed narrative of the historical background leading to the boundary disputes between the United States and Great Britain. He explores the origin of the contention stemming from various treaties, such as the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 and the Grenville-Jay Treaty of 1794, which failed to thoroughly address the boundary line in Passamaquoddy Bay. The book recounts the diplomatic efforts from the 1892 convention to delineate the missing boundary and highlights the challenges faced by the commissioners from both nations as they attempted to establish jurisdiction over the waters and islands within this area. Through meticulous research and historical documentation, Mendenhall illustrates how the lack of clarity and precision in previous treaties has led to ongoing conflicts, particularly in relation to fishing rights and territorial claims. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Thomas Corwin Mendenhall was an American autodidact physicist and meteorologist. He was the first professor hired at Ohio State University in 1873 and the superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1889 to 1894. Alongside his work, he was also an advocate for the adoption of the metric system by the United States and is the father of author profiling.