The fine print: North Dakota may not be a state

[OntarioVanMan]

Never doubt the determination of an 82-year-old man to change the world -- or at least the wording of his state's constitution.

Meet John Rolczynski: The Grand Forks, N.D., resident has been trying to tell his legislators that an error in the state's founding document means that technically, North Dakota is not a state.

Sounds like the ravings of a grumpy old man, but as it turns out, Rolczynski was right. News of uncertain statehood has put North Dakota in the spotlight and garnered big buzz.

Here's the story: Back in 1889, North Dakota was carved out of the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union at the same time as South Dakota. Or so everyone thought.

But the state founders who drafted the constitution left out the key requirement that the governor and other top officials take an oath of office, putting the state constitution in conflict with the federal one. So Rolczynski has been arguing for the last 16 years that the omission made the state illegitimate.

Finally, somebody listened. State Senator Tim Mathern introduced a bill fixing the mistake that will be put to voters this spring. The happy historian, now confined to a nursing home with Parkinson's disease, told the local news team Valley News Live that he was "glad that I was able to see this thing corrected."

Not that he's finished with the founders: The eagle eye claims he's found another error in the constitution, this time having to do with the state's eastern border. Stay tuned.

The fine print: North Dakota may not be a state | The Upshot - Yahoo! News

 

[scottm4211]

I like the line about this garnering big buzz. Checking TMZ now

 

[OntarioVanMan]

It is a pretty big goof up....all these years ND has not been a state legally...hence NOT eligible for federal subsidies and also the residents were not subject to federal income taxes....
I can see some lawyers junping on this to get rebates for clients who paid the feds money over their lifetime...

 

[scottm4211]

They moved all the toll booths on Ambassador bridge to the other side (before duty free) because the dude had them on state or city property
What a cluster f it is now.

 

[Turtle]

You know about the Georgia/Tennessee border dispute, right? Way back when, a surveying error gave TN an extra sliver of north GA. And Georgia wants it back. Alabama would get a bit, and Mississippi would get a nice little chunk of Memphis.

If Tennessee's southern border were the 35th parallel — as Congress designated in 1796 —Georgia would have a share of the Tennessee River. But a surveying team sent by Georgia to chart the line in 1818 was a bit off the mark.

Historians say mathematician James Camak, who led the team, begged the state to provide him the latest equipment, but instead he had to rely on an English sextant, an instrument more familiar to sea captains than land surveyors. Other stories say Camak's team was scared away by an American Indian party.

"A state boundary can only be changed by the legislatures of the states, with the consent of Congress," said Shafer, a Republican from Duluth, GA. "It cannot be changed by a mathematician with a faulty compass or a skittish surveying party afraid of the Indians."

Georgians thirsting to move state line - Weather - msnbc.com

Georgia Claims a Sliver of the Tennessee River - New York Times

This is something I was aware of, but it was that "How The States Got Their Shape" show that reminded me of it. On the show, they focused on one particular place, a bar where the current state lines run down the middle of the establishment. One side, the TN side, is wet, the GA side is in a dry county. If the state line gets moved, the entire bar will be in a dry county in Georgia. As it is currently, the bar where drinks are served and consumed is in TN, but the restrooms are in Georgia, so if you need to tinkle, you can't take your beer into the restroom with you do so it. It's hilarious.

So far only the first episode of that show in online, but it's a good one, especially if you never heard of the 51st state, the State of Jefferson.
How The States Got Their Shapes - Full Episodes

 

[blackpup]

You know about the Georgia/Tennessee border dispute, right? Way back when, a surveying error gave TN an extra sliver of north GA. And Georgia wants it back. Alabama would get a bit, and

Mississippi would get a nice little chunk of Memphis.
[/QUOTE



Tennessee can keep Memphis, thank you very much.

jimmy