From the Other Side

Dave Peacock sent me a note explaining the mysterious “boustrophedon,” which I mentioned in the April 2017 FTOS: “Measuring America by Andro Linklater has a great history of how the land measurement system came about in 1785 in the (then) new United States. Thomas Jefferson was a pretty smart dude. One of the primary purposes was to create a means to get the United States out of its War of Independence debt by selling off Western lands, which had been deeded to the federal government from the original 13 colonies when they became states. After the Louisiana Purchase, it became even more critical to be able to buy, sell, and describe a plot of land without actually standing on it. It goes without saying (except I'm about to say it) that the opportunity for a common individual to actually own a plot of land was one of the key differences back then between life in the United States and life in Europe where (nearly?) all land was owned by royalty or the church.”