The boundary between Maine and the British colonies remained a matter of contention between the United States and Great Britain for nearly sixty years after the Treaty of Paris of 1783. This map shows the expansion of settlement inland from the coasts in the southern part of the state; it also reveals various claims to the disputed region.

In addition to the boundary marked out in red, which most Americans deemed authoritative, the mapmakers identified the territory claimed by Britain, which encompassed most of present-day Aroostook County, as well as the compromise settlement proposed by the King of the Netherlands. Following a period of escalation known as the Aroostook War, the two parties would reach an agreement in 1842.

The map appeared in T. G. Bradford's Comprehensive Atlas Geographical, Historical, and Commercial, published in Boston by William D. Ticknor.