State of Alabama v. State of Georgia
| Alabama v. Georgia | |
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| Decided May 1, 1860 | |
| Full case name | State of Alabama v. State of Georgia |
| Citations | 64 U.S. 505 (more)
16 L. Ed. 556; 23 How. 505
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| Holding | |
| The true border between the states of Alabama and Georgia is the average water mark on the western bank of the Chattahoochee River | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Wayne, joined by unanimous court |
State of Alabama v. State of Georgia, 64 U.S. 505 (1860), is a 9-to-0 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States which held that the true border between the states of Alabama and Georgia was the average water mark on the western bank of the Chattahoochee River. In coming to its conclusion, the Court defined what constituted the bed and bank of a river. The case has had international repercussions as well. The Supreme Court's definition was adopted by courts in the United Kingdom in the case Hindson v. Ashby (1896) 65 LJ Ch. 515, 2 Ch. 27.
In 1629, during European colonization of the Americas, Charles I of England granted Sir Robert Heath a charter giving him title to Native American-occupied land from the northern boundary of what is modern-day Florida north to Albemarle Sound (31st latitude), extending from the Atlantic Ocean west to the Pacific Ocean. In 1663, Charles II of England revoked the Heath charter and issued a new charter to eight noblemen (the "Lords and Proprietors"). In 1665, this charter was amended to extend the land grant northward roughly to the current border of North Carolina and Virginia. In 1729, the Proprietors were forced to turn their charters over to George II of Great Britain, and North Carolina separated from South Carolina.
In 1732, George II granted James Oglethorpe and other settlers a charter to all South Carolina Colony land west of the Savannah River. However, the charter was unclear as to whether the new colony covered all of South Carolina's western border, and South Carolina continued to dispute Georgia's claim over a strip of land about 12 miles (19 km) wide. In order to help secure ratification of the Articles of Confederation, the new United States Congress passed legislation encouraging all states to give up their western claims so that new territories might be formed and transformed into states which might eventually be admitted to the union. In August 1787, South Carolina ceded the disputed strip of land to the state of Georgia.
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