The Canada–United States border officially known as the International Boundary , is the longest international border in the world between two countries. Shared between Canada and the United States, the border belongs to the second- and third-/fourth-largest countries by respective area.[a] The terrestrial boundary (including portions of water boundaries in the Great Lakes, as well as on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic coasts) is 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi) long, of which 2,475 kilometres (1,538 mi) is the border between Alaska and Yukon. The agencies currently responsible for facilitating legal passage through the international boundary are the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
History
18th century
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States. In the second article of the Treaty, the parties agreed on all boundaries of the United States, including, but not limited to, the boundary to the north along then-British North America. The agreed-upon boundary included the line from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River, and proceeded down along the middle of the river to the 45th parallel of north latitude.
The parallel had been established in the 1760s as the boundary between the provinces of Quebec and New York (including what would later become the State of Vermont). It was surveyed and marked by John Collins and Thomas Valentine from 1771 to 1773.
The Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes became the boundary further west, between the United States and what is now Ontario. Northwest of Lake Superior, the boundary followed rivers to the Lake of the Woods. From the northwesternmost point of the Lake of the Woods, the boundary was agreed to go straight west until it met the Mississippi River. In fact, that line never meets the river since the river's source is further south.
Jay Treaty (1794)
The Jay Treaty of 1794 (effective 1796) created the International Boundary Commission, which would be charged with surveying and mapping the boundary. It would also provide for the removal of British military and administration from Detroit, as well as other frontier outposts on the U.S. side. The Jay Treaty would be superseded by the Treaty of Ghent (effective 1815) concluding the War of 1812, which included pre-war boundaries.
19th century
Signed in December 1814, the Treaty of Ghent would end the War of 1812, returning the boundaries of British North America and the United States to the state they were prior to the war. In the following decades, the United States and the United Kingdom concluded several treaties that would settle the major boundary disputes between the two, enabling the border to be demilitarized. The Rush–Bagot Treaty of 1817 would provide a plan for demilitarizing the two combatant sides in the War of 1812 and also laid out preliminary principles for drawing a border between British North America and the United States.
London Convention (1818)
The Treaty of 1818 would see expansion of both British North America and the US, where the boundary would extend westward along the 49th parallel, from the Northwest Angle at Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. The treaty would extinguish British claims to the south of that line up to the Red River Valley, which was part of Rupert's Land. The treaty would also extinguish U.S. claims to land north of that line in the watershed of the Missouri River, which was part of the Louisiana Purchase. This would amount to three small areas, consisting of the northern part of the drainages of the Milk River (today in southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan), the Poplar River (Saskatchewan), and Big Muddy Creek (Saskatchewan).[citation needed] Along the 49th parallel, the border vista is theoretically straight, but in practice follows the 19th-century surveyed border markers and varies by several hundred feet in spots.
Webster–Ashburton Treaty (1842)
Disputes over the interpretation of the border treaties and mistakes in surveying required additional negotiations, which would result in the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842. The treaty resolved the Aroostook War, a dispute over the boundary between Maine, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada. The treaty redefined the border between New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York on the one hand, and the Province of Canada on the other, resolving the Indian Stream dispute and the Fort Blunder dilemma at the outlet to Lake Champlain.
The part of the 45th parallel that separates Quebec from the U.S. states of Vermont and New York had first been surveyed from 1771 to 1773 after it had been declared the boundary between New York (including what later became Vermont) and Quebec. It would be surveyed again after the War of 1812. The U.S. federal government began to construct fortifications just south of the border at Rouses Point, New York, on Lake Champlain. After a significant portion of the construction was completed, measurements revealed that at that point, the actual 45th parallel was three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) south of the surveyed line. The fort, which would become known as "Fort Blunder," was in Canada, which created a dilemma for the U.S. that would not be resolved until a provision of the treaty left the border on the meandering line as surveyed. The border along the Boundary Waters in present-day Ontario and Minnesota between Lake Superior and the Northwest Angle was also redefined
Oregon Treaty (1846)
An 1844 boundary dispute during U.S. President James K. Polk's administration led to a call for the northern boundary of the U.S. west of the Rockies to be 54°40'N related to the southern boundary of Russia's Alaska Territory). However, the United Kingdom wanted a border that followed the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. The dispute was resolved in the Oregon Treaty of 1846, which established the 49th parallel as the boundary through the Rockies.
Boundary surveys (mid–19th century)
The Northwest Boundary Survey (1857–1861) laid out the land boundary. However, the water boundary would not be settled for some time. After the Pig War in 1859, arbitration in 1872 established the border between the Gulf Islands and the San Juan Islands.
The International Boundary Survey (or, the "Northern Boundary Survey" in the US) began in 1872.[5] Its mandate was to establish the border as agreed to in the Treaty of 1818. Archibald Campbell led the way for the United States, while Donald Cameron headed the British team. This survey focused on the border from the Lake of the Woods to the summit of the Rocky Mountains.
20th century
In 1903, following a dispute, a joint United Kingdom–Canada–U.S. tribunal established the boundary of southeast Alaska.
On April 11, 1908, the United Kingdom and the United States agreed, under Article IV of the Treaty of 1908, to survey and delimit the boundary between Canada and the U.S. through the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes, in accordance with modern surveying techniques, and thus accomplished several changes to the border.
International Boundary Commission (1925)
In 1925, the International Boundary Commission (French: Commission de la frontière internationale) was established as a permanent organization responsible for surveying and mapping the boundary; maintaining boundary monuments (and buoys where applicable); and keeping the boundary clear of brush and vegetation for 6 metres (20 ft). This "border vista" extends for 3 metres (9.8 ft) on each side of the line. The Commission is headed by two commissioners, one of whom is Canadian, the other American.
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