Land Controversies

Controversies Between Citizens of the Same State Claiming Land Under Grants of Different States

The genesis of this clause was in the report of the Committee of Detail which vested the power to resolve such land disputes in the Senate,1 but this proposal was defeated in the Convention, 2 which then added this clause to the jurisdiction of the federal judiciary without reported debate.3 The motivation for this clause was the existence of boundary disputes affecting ten sates at the time the Convention met. With the adoption of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the ultimate settlement of the boundary disputes, and the passing of land grants by the states, this clause, never productive of many cases, became obsolete.4

Land Controversies and the U.S. Constitution

Resources

See Also

References

This text about Land Controversies is based on “The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation”, published by the U.S. Government Printing Office.

Notes

[Footnote 1] 2 M. Farrand, supra at 162, 171, 184.

[Footnote 2] Id. at 400-401.

[Footnote 3] Id. at 431.

[Footnote 4] See Pawlet v. Clark, 13 U.S. (9 Cr.) 292 (1815). Cf. City of Trenton v. New Jersey, 262 U.S. 182 (1923).