Final answer:
George Calvert was granted a charter in 1632 for land north of the Potomac River to create the colony of Maryland. Maryland served as a refuge for Catholics and had debates over territorial boundaries, later resolved by the Mason-Dixon Line.
Step-by-step explanation:
In 1632, George Calvert, also known as the first Lord Baltimore, was granted a charter from the British crown to own land north of the Potomac River. This charter was to establish a new colony in the Chesapeake region, which was named Maryland, in honor of Henrietta Marie, wife of King Charles I. The Maryland charter was unique, it granted not just the right to establish a colony but actual ownership of all the land within it to the Calvert family. The colony was envisioned as a safe haven for Catholics to practice their faith freely, a reaction to the discrimination they faced in England. Despite this intent for religious freedom, conflicts with neighboring Pennsylvania arose over poorly defined borders, leading to territorial disputes that involved the construction of Philadelphia by William Penn below the 40th parallel—in what was technically Maryland territory.
The resolution to these border disputes came later with the survey of the Mason-Dixon Line in the 1760s, well after the initial charters were granted.