George Washington

Library of Congress,
Prints and Photographs Division

The Compact of 1785, also known as the Potomac River Pact, settled differences between Maryland and Virginia regarding commerce on the Chesapeake Bay and the Pocomoke and Potomac Rivers.

Under the Articles of Confederation, Maryland and Virginia were sovereign, independent "nations" and each regulated all maritime trade within their boundaries. By its 1632 Charter, Maryland owned the Potomac and Pocomoke Rivers. Virginia owned the Chesapeake Bay south of the Potomac. Both states taxed all waterborne commerce within their respective boundaries.

The Mount Vernon Conference
In the fall of 1784, the Virginia Legislature called for a conference on Potomac navigation. Each state appointed four commissioners to meet in March of 1785 in Alexandria. Appointed for Virginia were George Mason, Edmund Randolph, James Madison, and Alexander Henderson; for Maryland, Thomas Johnson, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Thomas Stone, and Samuel Chase. Three Maryland commissioners arrived as planned; the Virginia commissioners did not, because that state’s Governor Patrick Henry "forgot" to inform them. George Washington found out what was going on, contacted Mason and Henderson, and invited all to Mount Vernon where they penned the Compact of 1785.

The Compact
Article 1: Virginia gave up the right to impose tolls and port duties on ships bound to or from Maryland within its territorial limits.

Article 2: Maryland conferred the same privileges on ships trading to or from Virginia within its territorial limits.

Article 3: War ships from either state were exempt from all charges.

Article 4: Small vessels (under 40-foot keel and under 50-tons burden) could trade in either state free of charge, providing they carried only Maryland or Virginia produce.

Article 5: All ships, except those exempted by article 4, were to obtain clearances from the nearest naval office and pay duties.

Article 6: The Potomac was to be a common highway to any United States citizen trading with either state.

Article 7: Citizens of both states could erect improvements along their shores as long as they did not hinder navigation. Citizens of both states could fish on the rivers, so long as they did not interfere with the fisheries, seines, or nets of the other.

Article 8: All laws regarding fisheries, navigation, or quarantine were to be made with the consent of both states.

Article 9: Aids to navigation on both were to be paid for by both states, Virginia paying three-fifths.

Articles 10 and 11 provided for trials for piracy, absconding criminals and debtors.

Article 12: Individuals with land on both sides of the rivers could move their own property back and forth free of toll.

Article 13: The Compact had to be ratified by both legislatures.

The Significance of the Compact
The Compact immediately settled trade problems along the three named waterways and was, thus, was an early and important step toward interstate cooperation. The commissioners recommended that all states send delegates to a meeting in Annapolis in 1786 to discuss interstate commerce; however, Maryland and seven other states refused to send representatives (see Annapolis Convention). This in turn led to a call for delegates to a convention in Philadelphia in 1787 to amend the Articles of Confederation (Constitutional Convention). The Compact has been relevant to issues ranging from canals and fishing regulations to whether Virginians have the right to draw water from the Potomac without Maryland's consent.

Lancaster, Ralph I., Jr. “Report of the Special Master, Commonwealth of Virginia v. State of Maryland, In the Supreme Court of the United States.” N.p., December 9, 2002.

“The Life of Thomas Johnson.” Maryland Historical Magazine 21, no. 1 (March 1926).