Specifically, he thought that states in the new Northwest Territory (between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers) should be approximately two degrees of latitude and four degrees of longitude (or about 138 miles high by about 276 miles wide).

Being a big fan of equality, he suggested that Congress create future states equal in size based upon latitude and longitude coordinates. If you look at a map of the original 13 colonies, you'll notice that they vary wildly in shape and size. Likewise, the Ohio River defines the southern boundary of Indiana. California and Arizona are separated by the Colorado River. Similar boundaries exist elsewhere in the U.S. New Hampshire and Vermont are separated by the Connecticut River. The shapes of the earliest states were often defined by natural geographic boundaries, such as rivers. The American Revolution, for example, helped to define the shapes of the original 13 colonies that became the New England states. The person who has probably researched this topic more than any other is Mark Stein, author of the book How the States Got Their Shapes.Īccording to Stein, four of the biggest influences that dictated the shapes of the states were the American Revolution, the construction of railroads, the 1808 proposal for the Erie Canal, and the political controversies over the issue of slavery. There are 50 states in the United States, and that means there are about 50 unique stories that explain how each state got its shape. Although there's no single, simple answer to that question, let's investigate some of the factors that shaped the way the states look. For example, it can be difficult to distinguish Wyoming from Colorado and North Dakota from South Dakota unless you see them in context, because they have such similar shapes.Ĭurious Wonder Friends from all over the United States have WONDERed for some time about how the states got their shapes. However, there are also many states that have similar shapes and aren't easy to identify by themselves unless you see them in context on the map of the entire United States. For example, the states of Texas and Florida have interesting shapes that just about everyone recognizes at first glance. If you look at a map of the United States, it's easy to identify certain states that have unique shapes. We spend hours just looking at maps and dreaming of visiting every state, country, planet, and imaginary land that exists anywhere and everywhere! Do you love maps? Here in Wonderopolis, we have a room that's filled with nothing but maps.

How states got their shapes book