| Journal of Research: Nov. 20-26, 2000 [11]
2000/11/26 1130-1245, 1515-1800 Read Mason papers through 1786. So far I don't see anything one way or another about whether the Compact of 1785 applied only to the Tidewater. Mason certainly was interested in issues involving tidewater ports, as witness his opposition to the 1784 Port Bill in Virginia.
2000/11/25 1030-1330, 1545-1645 Read Mason through 1784. Not too much there, except for more documents relating to Virginia's western lands.
2000/11/24 1400-1700 Finished Mason through 1779. There was nothing explicitly about the Potomac boundary, but several pieces dealing with Virginia's attempts to secure its claim to lands west of the Appalachians, against claims made by private speculators with Maryland connections, reveal the enmity between the two states. It seems apparent that Virginia was eager to confirm not only the bounds described in its own charter, but those described in the charters of other states, too, because that was the surest way of preventing encroachment on Virginia's transmontane lands. I doubt that Virginia cared very much that it was thereby ceding its claims to any part of the Potomac River: that was a tiny matter compared to the main prize.
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