How did our government know what the states would be shaped like??

Question: How did our government know what the states would be shaped like!?!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

They really didn't!.
Nor did they start out AS states!.
They were Land Grants!.
Territories!.
River Borders!.
Mountain Borders!.
Swamp borders!.
Buying and selling of land, changing borders!.
Staked out properties!.
Simply a place that had been explored became a "state", versus anyhting beyond that wasn't explored wasn't part of it!.
Some of it was political!.
Some of it was social!.
Some of it was by disagreements!.!.!.some by agreements!.
Indian Borders were a very important determining factor!.

Half of Tennessee used to be North Carolina!.
Carolina became North and South!.
Virginia and West By-God Virginia!.
The Dakotas were separated by Indian Tribes!.
Oklahoma, Land of the Indians, was one big "reservation"!.
Texas was actually The Republic of Texas, AFTER it was Mexico!.
Louisanna included most of the Mid-West and owned by the French!.
Florida, Spain#2!.
Western borders of the East Coast was the MIssissippi River!.
Georgia and Tennessee have fought over Chattanooga for years!.
Kansas City, Missouri!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.Kansas City, Kansas, one city, two states, separated by a river!.

Shapes of states have actually changed over the more recent years!.
Some times the US government WAS involved in the shape/size of a state!.!.!.!.!.!.sometimes it was the states themselves that decided!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It didn't!. Surveyors decided on the state lines (accept for Alaska and Hawaii), determining where one state ended and another began!. State lines have not always been what they are now!. Vermont for instance was at one time divided between New Hampshire and New York!. Www@QuestionHome@Com