Half as Interesting explains in fascinating detail how the Republic of Indian Stream, a very short-lived country that sat between New Hampshire and Quebec, was the result of a limnological dispute.
The 1783 Treaty of Paris determined the border between the United States and Canada to be “the northwesternmost head of the Connecticut River“. This determination was rather nebulous and depended upon interpretation. Unfortunately, neither of the two parties could agree upon where the head of the river was actually situated. While the two sides were bickering, the citizens who lived in this area were fed up with having to answer to two disputing governments and declared their independence in 1832. After three years, however, they agreed to annexation by New Hampshire in 1835.
…the most pressing issue was that both Canadian and American tax collectors would come and collect tax. This double taxation was in the residents’ mind unacceptable. Staying on brand with the American Revolution, the residents therefore declared independence in 1832. …New Hampshire called Canada’s bluff and their militia invaded and occupied Indian stream it was then by all measures the United States and the Republic of Indian Stream was happy because that’s what they wanted all along to be part of one country rather than two.
