Editing Mason–Dixon line (section)

==In culture==

===Name===
It is unlikely that Mason and Dixon ever heard the phrase "Mason–Dixon line". The official report on the survey, issued in 1768, did not even mention their names.<ref name = WaPo /> While the term was used occasionally in the decades following the survey, it came into popular use during congressional debates on the [[Missouri Compromise]] named "Mason and Dixon's line" as part of the boundary between slave territory and free territory.<ref>{{cite web|first=John|last=Mackenzie|url=http://www1.udel.edu/johnmack/mason_dixon/|title=A brief history of the Mason–Dixon Line|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717185851/http://www1.udel.edu/johnmack/mason_dixon/ |archive-date=July 17, 2018|website=APEC/CANR, University of Delaware|access-date=2017-01-05}}</ref>

===Symbolism===
In popular usage to people from the United States, the Mason–Dixon line symbolizes a [[cultural boundary]] between the [[Northeastern United States|North]] and the [[Southern United States|South]] ([[Dixie]]). Originally "Mason and Dixon's Line" simply referred to the border between Pennsylvania (including "the Delaware Counties") and Maryland. However, it has been used metaphorically to describe the entire boundary between slave and free states during the 19th-century. After [[History of slavery in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania abolished slavery]], it served as a demarcation line for the legality of [[slavery in the United States|slavery]]. Technically, that demarcation did not extend beyond Pennsylvania where Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, all [[slave states]], lay south or east of the boundary. Also lying north and east of the boundary was [[History of slavery in New Jersey|New Jersey]], where slavery was formally abolished in 1846, but former slaves continued to be "apprenticed" to their masters until the passage of the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] in 1865.

The Missouri Compromise line ([[Parallel 36°30′ north]]) had a much clearer geographic connection to slavery in the [[History of the United States (1849–1865)|United States leading up to the Civil War]].<ref name=ColoradoTerritory>{{cite web |url=http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/territory.pdf |title=An Act to provide a temporary Government for the Territory of Colorado |publisher=[[Thirty-sixth United States Congress]] |date=February 28, 1861 |access-date=2007-02-22}}</ref>

===In popular culture===
{{in popular culture|date=June 2020}}
Popular culture contains a multitude of references to the Mason–Dixon line as a general geographic division, or character names evoking it, although a minority of those specifically relate to the line itself.

====Film====
* Mason "The Line" Dixon is a leading character in ''[[Rocky Balboa (film)|Rocky Balboa]]'' (2006),<ref>{{cite web|website=The Internet Movie Database |date=2006|title=Rocky Balboa|url=https://www.imdb.com}}</ref> the sixth film in the [[Rocky (film series)|Rocky franchise]], directed by and starring [[Sylvester Stallone]]. Played by real-life boxer [[Antonio Tarver]], Dixon is the current [[World Heavyweight Boxing Champion]] who is ridiculed for having never fought a real contender, and who thus agrees to an exhibition fight against the nearly 60-year-old [[Rocky Balboa]].<ref>{{cite news|work=Empire Magazine |title=Film Review|date=2007}}</ref>
* In ''[[Attack of the Killer Tomatoes]]'' (1978), Mason Dixon is the leader of a government task force dedicated to stopping the worldwide crisis when tomatoes turn malignant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/pop-culture/article/attack-of-the-killer-tomatoes-an-oral-history-of-the-1978-film|title=Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: An Oral History of the 1978 Film|first=Sam|last=Dean|date=August 8, 2013 }}</ref>

====Cartoons====
* The line makes several appearances<ref>{{cite web|website=yosemite-sam.net/ |date=2017|title= still from the cartoon "southern fried rabbit" showing the line |url=http://yosemite-sam.net/Sam/Animated-Cartoons/Southern-Fried-Rabbit-04.JPG}}</ref> in the 1953 [[Bugs Bunny]] cartoon "[[Southern Fried Rabbit]]". The line separates the drought-affected North from which the "Yankee" Bugs leaves in search of carrots in the green lands of the "Dixie" South, the latter being guarded by [[Yosemite Sam]], who thinks the Civil War is still ongoing.

====Literature====
* In the novel ''[[The People's Choice (novel)|People's Choice]]'' by [[Jeff Greenfield]], the character of W. Dixon Mason is an African-American preacher who plays a major role in determining the next U.S. president when the elected candidate dies between the popular election and the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] formal vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-399-13812-6|title=Fiction Book Review: People's Choice by Jeff Greenfield, Author Putnam Publishing Group (309p) |date=September 1995 }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2016}}
* ''[[Mason & Dixon]]'' (1997) is the title of a novel by American author [[Thomas Pynchon]].<ref>{{cite news|work=The New York Times |title= Book review – Mason & Dixon |date= 1997 }}</ref> The novel meanders widely through the lives of Mason and Dixon, traditional American history, and other themes such as [[hollow earth theory]], [[geomancy]], [[deism]], and{{spaced ndash}}perhaps{{spaced ndash}}[[alien abduction]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Mason & Dixon |website=ThomasPynchon.com|url=http://www.thomaspynchon.com}}</ref>

====Music====
* The 1918 song, "[[Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody]]", written by [[Jean Schwartz]], [[Sam M. Lewis]], and [[Joe Young (lyricist)|Joe Young]], popularized by [[Al Jolson]], includes the lyric "Just hang my cradle, Mammy mine/ Right on that Mason–Dixon Line".<ref>Sheet music (copyright 1918) viewable at https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/collection/154/093</ref>
* A small group of musicians from Paul Whiteman's orchestra led by C melody saxophonist [[Frank Trumbauer]] and including [[Bix Beiderbecke]] recorded two sides for Columbia on May 15, 1929, titled, "Alabammy Snow" and "What A Day!" under the pseudonym, "Mason–Dixon Orchestra".<ref>Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Columbia 1861-D (10-in. double-faced)", accessed August 30, 2017, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/object/detail/196765/Columbia_1861-D.</ref> It is probable that they chose this pseudonym because the catalog number of the record would be 1861-D, 1861 being the year that the American Civil War began.
* The lyric "First to cross the Mason–Dixon line" featured in the opening verse of the song "I've Done it Again" (composers [[Marianne Faithfull]] / [[Barry Reynolds]]) on [[Grace Jones]]' 1981 album ''[[Nightclubbing (Grace Jones album)|Nightclubbing]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://genius.com/Grace-jones-ive-done-it-again-lyrics|title=Grace Jones – I've Done It Again|via=genius.com}}</ref>
* The 1955 song, "[[Hey, Porter]]", by [[Johnny Cash]] makes reference to the Mason–Dixon line in the line, ''How much longer will it be 'til we cross that Mason-Dixon line?''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.johnnycash.com/track/hey-porter/|title=Johnny Cash|access-date=June 24, 2024}}</ref>
* From the 2000 album ''[[Sailing to Philadelphia]]'' by British singer-songwriter and guitarist [[Mark Knopfler]], the title track (also featuring [[James Taylor]]) is about the two English surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon travelling to Philadelphia to survey the Mason–Dixon line; the lyrics draw from ''[[Mason & Dixon]]'' by [[Thomas Pynchon]], a novel about their relationship.<ref>[[Sailing to Philadelphia]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=February 2025}}
* [[Sonic Youth]]'s "Paper Cup Exit" from the album ''[[Sonic Nurse]]'' (2004) has the line "Touch down on the new Mason-Dixon line" (sung by [[Lee Ranaldo]])
* [[Dan Seals]] sang ''"Mason Dixon line"'' and the song symbolically references the line.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://genius.com/Dan-seals-mason-dixon-line-lyrics|title=Mason Dixon Line|access-date=24 Oct 2019}}</ref>
* [[GZA]] references the ''"Mason-Dixon Line"'' in the closing words of his feature verse on [[Raekwon|Raekwon's]] song ''"Guillotine (Swords)"'' from his debut 1995 album ''[[Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...|Only Built 4 Cuban Linx]]''.<ref>{{Citation|title=Raekwon (Ft. Ghostface Killah, GZA & Inspectah Deck) – Guillotine (Swordz)|url=https://genius.com/Raekwon-guillotine-swordz-lyrics|language=en|access-date=2019-05-23}}</ref>
* [[Tom Lehrer]] references the Mason–Dixon line in his song "[[Songs by Tom Lehrer|I Wanna Go Back to Dixie]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://genius.com/Tom-lehrer-i-wanna-go-back-to-dixie-lyrics|title=I Wanna Go Back to Dixie|access-date=24 Oct 2019}}</ref>
* [[Lady A]]ntebellum's eponymous album has a song "Home Is Where The Heart Is", which contains the line "It's just south of the Mason-Dixon line".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metrolyrics.com/home-is-where-the-heart-is-lyrics-lady-antebellum.html|title=Lady Antebellum "Home Is Where The Heart Is" Lyrics|access-date=March 17, 2020|archive-date=March 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318024740/https://www.metrolyrics.com/home-is-where-the-heart-is-lyrics-lady-antebellum.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* The 1916 song "[[Are You from Dixie ('Cause I'm from Dixie Too)]]" originally recorded by [[Billy Murray (singer)|Billy Murray]] contains the lyrics "If you're from Alabama, Tennessee, or Caroline. Any place below the Mason-Dixon line. Then you're from Dixie."<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/sheetmusic/116|title=Are You from Dixie? ('Cause I'm from Dixie Too)|first1=Jack|last1=Yellen|first2=George|last2=Cobb|date=January 1, 1915|journal=Historic Sheet Music Collection}}</ref>
* Brad Paisley, LL Cool J, and Lee Thomas Miller's controversial 2013 song "[[Accidental Racist]]" uses the Mason–Dixon line as a metaphor for north–south, black/white, and other cultural (dysfunctional) relations: "Oh, Dixieland/The relationship between the Mason-Dixon needs some fixin'"<ref>{{cite magazine|accessdate=2021-04-14|title=Brad Paisley's 'Accidental Racist': LL Cool J's 10 Craziest Lyrics|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/brad-paisleys-accidental-racist-ll-cool-js-10-craziest-lyrics-1556654/|date=8 April 2013|magazine=Billboard}}</ref>
* [[David Allan Coe]] sings about the Mason–Dixon line in "I Still Sing the Old Songs".
* [[Connie Smith]] sings about the Mason–Dixon Line in "Cincinnati, Ohio", with lyrics by [[Bill Anderson (singer)|Bill Anderson]].
* The 1983 song [[Dixieland Delight]] by country singer [[Ronnie Rogers]] and recorded by American [[country music]] band [[Alabama (band)|Alabama]] references the Mason-Dixon Line multiple times throughout the song.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dixieland Delight |url=https://genius.com/Alabama-dixieland-delight-lyrics |website=Genius |access-date=8 May 2022}}</ref>
* The country band [[Mason Dixon (band)|Mason Dixon]]<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mason-dixon-mn0002141765 | title=Mason Dixon biography | publisher=AllMusic | accessdate=March 1, 2021}}</ref>
* The 2022 song, "Before" which is included in the album [[Nicole (album)|Nicole]], written by [[Niki (singer)|NIKI]] includes the lyric "While you stay just fine and feel alive south of the Mason-Dixon line".<ref>{{Citation |title=NIKI – Before |url=https://genius.com/Niki-before-lyrics |access-date=2023-05-24}}</ref>
* In [[Kathy Mattea]]'s 1986 song "Leaving West Virginia", she is leaving her home state for California in search of success, but indicates that "I'll surely leave my heart below the Mason-Dixon line".<ref>{{cite web|title=Kathy Mattea - Leaving West Virginia|url=https://genius.com/Kathy-mattea-leaving-west-virginia-lyrics|date=1986}}</ref>
* The 2008 song "Ruby and Carlos" by [[James McMurtry]] from the album ''[[Just Us Kids]]'' opens with the lines "Ruby said you're getting us in of world of hurt, Down below the Mason-Dumbass line the food gets worse"

====Sports====
* In the regional baseball rivalry between [[Yankees–Red Sox rivalry|the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox]], the theoretical border that separates population centers that are majority-Red Sox fans from majority-Yankees fans in [[Connecticut]] is sometimes called the "Munson-Nixon Line",<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/23/upshot/24-upshot-baseball.html|title=Up Close on Baseball's Borders|last1=Giratikanon|first1=Tom|date=2014-04-24|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-10-25|last2=Katz|first2=Josh|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|last3=Leonhardt|first3=David|last4=Quealy|first4=Kevin}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.si.com/vault/2013/12/16/106408077/reconcilable-differences|title=Reconcilable Differences|last=Rushin|first=Steve|work=SI.com|access-date=2017-10-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://spectator.org/baseballs-borders/|title=Baseball's Borders|date=2014-04-25|work=The American Spectator|access-date=2017-10-25|language=en-US}}</ref> in a (somewhat parodic) reference to the Mason–Dixon line. Credited to [[Steve Rushin]] of ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'',<ref name=":0" /> the line is named for famed Yankee catcher [[Thurman Munson]] and Red Sox right fielder [[Trot Nixon]]. In the book ''[[The Nine Nations of North America]]'', this line is mentioned (but not named) as the true marker of whether a given location in Connecticut is socially part of New England or the [[rust belt]] region the author calls The Foundry.<ref>{{cite book|author=Joel Garreau|year=1981|title=The Nine Nations of North America|url=https://archive.org/details/ninenationsofno000garr|url-access=registration|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=0395291240|page=17}}</ref> This line has moved over the years, but it's still there.