New Brunswick and Maine became the scene of a border "war," known as the
"Aroostook disturbance"; Maine erected forts along the line she claimed,
Congress authorized the president to resist any attempt of Great Britain
to enforce exclusive jurisdiction over the disputed territory, and an
armed conflict seemed imminent. General Winfield Scott was sent to take
command on the Maine frontier, and on the 21st of March 1839 he arranged
a truce and a joint occupancy of the territory in dispute until a
satisfactory settlement should be reached by the United States and Great
Britain. The Webster-Ashburton treaty of 1842 was a compromise, which
allowed Maine about 5500 sq. m. less than she had claimed and allowed
Great Britain about as much less than her claim; all grants of land
previously made by either party within the limits of the territory which
by this treaty fell within the dominions of the other party were to be
"held valid, ratified and confirmed to the persons in possession under
such grants, to the same extent as if such territory had ... fallen
within the dominions of the party by whom such grants were made"; and
the government of the United States agreed to pay to Maine and
Massachusetts[7] "in equal moieties" the sum of $300,000 as
compensation for the lands which they had claimed and which under the
treaty they were called upon to surrender. The long controversy, which
is known in American history as "The North-East boundary dispute," was
not finally settled however until 1910.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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