Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Dan
Not all state boundaries are arbitrary. Just look at how many state boundaries are delineated by major rivers like the Ohio and Mississippi.
But as you move out west into the "rectangle states", yes most state borders become pretty divorced from geography.
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Using a river as a boundary is actually arbitrary as well, in the absence of any longstanding cultural divide along said river. Human civilizations generally developed
along rivers, on both sides. It would make more sense to have a state around a river than to use one to delineate a boundary.
And the borders of the original colonies were often quite arbitrary in some places as well. Lines of latitude, etc.