Chronology-the Beginnings
・ 1793-US Territorial Sea
- Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson sets 3 miles as the width of the US territorial sea in letter to Britain and France
- For the next 150 years, the policy of claiming a 3-mile territorial sea while support almost total freedom of the high seas served US interests well
・ 1807-The Survey of the Coast
- President Thomas Jefferson, among the most scientific of US Presidents, signs a bill establishing the "Survey of the Coast"
・ 1896-Offshore Oil
- California begins offshore oil production
Chronology-the 1940s
・ 1945-The Truman Proclamation
- After realizing that significant oil and gas resources lie offshore, President Truman unilaterally claims that natural resources of the subsoil and seabed of the continental shelf are subject to jurisdiction of the US
- Other nations soon join in an "enclosure movement" claiming jurisdiction offshore
・ 1947-Federal Rights in Coastal Waters
- The Supreme Court decides the Federal government retains paramount rights in coastal waters to fulfill its foreign policy, national security, and interstate commerce responsibilities to Nation as a whole