Rhode Island v. Massachusetts

657 (1838), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court asserted its original jurisdiction over a suit in equity, a boundary dispute between Massachusetts and Rhode Island dating to colonial times.

James I had granted the original charter in November 1621.

[1] The dispute, which had lasted over 200 years, was over Narragansett Bay.

[2][1] To settle the dispute, Rhode Island moved for a subpoena on 16 March, 1832.

The Court determined that the compact between the two colonies made in 1711-1718 should govern the boundary line between the states, and therefore confirmed the existing boundary line, rejecting Rhode Island's interpretation of the colonial charters, which would have put the border further into Massachusetts.