MARYLAND By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, it is ordered that all the hereinafter-described lands and waters, including all of Shad Battery, or Edmondsons Island, owned or controlled by the United States and situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, in and at the head of Chesapeake Bay, in Harford and Cecil Counties, Maryland, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart, subject to valid rights, for the use of the Department of the Interior as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife: Beginning at a point at latitude 39°29'46'' N., and longitude 76°05'01" W., in Chesapeake Bay, due north 200 yards from Fishing Battery Light; Thence from said initial point, by metes and bounds, due east 4,000 yards (2.27 miles, approximate) to a point at latitude 39°29'46" N., and longitude 76°02'28" W., approximate, in Chesapeake Bay; Thence due south 4,160 yards (2.36 miles, approximate) to a point at latitude 39°27'43'' N., and longitude 76°02'28'' W., approximate, in Chesapeake Bay; Thence N. 62°30' W., 2,680 yards (1.52 miles, approximate) to a point at latitude 39°28'21'' N., and longitude 76°03'59'' W., approximate, in Chesapeake Bay 440 yards distant from the northeast side of Spesutie Island at Locust Point; Thence northerly and westerly with a line 440 yards distant from the north shore of Spesitie Island to a point at latitude 39°28'48" N., and longitude 76°05'48" W., approximate, opposite the center of Spesutle Narrows; Thence due north 1,960 yards (1.11 miles. approximate) to a point at latitude 39°29'46" N., and longitude 76°05'48" W., approximate, in Chesapeake Bay; Thence due east 1,230 yards (0.76 mile, approximate) to the place of beginning. The area described contains 2,900 acres, more or less. The reservation herein made of that part of Shad Battery, or Edmondsons Island, under the primary jurisdiction of the Navy Department shall not interfere with its use by the Coast Guard for lighthouse purposes. This reservation shall be known as the Susquehanna National Wildlife Refuge. FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT The White House, June 23, 1942.
Executive Order 9185 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
Executive Order 9185—Establishing the Susquehanna National Wildlife Refuge
Executive Brief • At a Glance
⏱️ 2 min read (345 words) •
● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate
All the hereinafter-described lands and waters, including all of Shad Battery, or Edmondsons Island, owned or controlled by the United States and situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, in and at the head of Chesapeake Bay, in Harford and Cecil Counties, Maryland, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart, subject to valid rights, for the use of the Department of the Interior as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife: Beginning at a point at latitude 39°29'46'' N., and longitude 76°05'01" W., in Chesapeake Bay, due north 200 yards from Fishing Battery Light; Thence from said initial point, by metes and bounds, due east 4,000 yards (2.27 miles, approximate) to a point at latitude 39°29'46" N., and…
⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis
Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.
Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 23, 1942, this order concerns Establishing the Susquehanna National Wildlife Refuge. All the hereinafter-described lands and waters, including all of Shad Battery, or Edmondsons Island, owned or controlled by the United States and situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, in and at the head of Chesapeake Bay, in Harford and Cecil Counties, Maryland, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart, subject to valid rights, for the use of the Department of the Interior as a refuge and breeding…
Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.
Key Directives & Operative Actions
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All the hereinafter-described lands and waters, including all of Shad Battery, or Edmondsons Island, owned or controlled by the United States and situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, in and at the head of Chesapeake Bay, in Harford and Cecil Counties, Maryland, be, and they are hereby, reserved and set apart, subject to valid rights, for the use of the Department of the Interior as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife: Beginning at a point at latitude 39°29'46'' N., and longitude 76°05'01" W., in Chesapeake Bay, due north 200 yards from Fishing Battery Light; Thence from said initial point, by metes and bounds, due east 4,000 yards (2.27 miles, approximate) to a point at latitude 39°29'46" N., and…
▪
The reservation herein made of that part of Shad Battery, or Edmondsons Island, under the primary jurisdiction of the Navy Department shall not interfere with its use by the Coast Guard for lighthouse purposes.
▪
This reservation shall be known as the Susquehanna National Wildlife Refuge.
Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted
🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments
🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants
Policy Areas & Topics
🏛️
The Framers' Constitutional Council
1787 PrismEvaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.
⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
§
"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."
— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM
James Madison
Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy
"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)
Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.
Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH
Alexander Hamilton
The Energetic Executive & Unified Command
"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)
Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.
Hamiltonian Stance: Strong Prerogative Support
GM
George Mason
Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment
"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)
The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.
Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
📐
Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions
An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.
⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
30 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8
Low Friction
Legislative Encroachment & Purse
Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.
Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3
Low Friction
Executive Scope & Faithfulness
Exercises standard supervisory executive authority to faithfully execute existing statutes.
Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment
Moderate Friction
Federalism & State Sovereignty
Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.
Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments
Low Friction
Due Process & Individual Rights
Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.
Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers
Moderate Friction
Youngstown Jacksonian Tier
The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.
Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️
Audit Synthesis
This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.
Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
ℹ️
How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
345
2,143 characters
Estimated Read Time
2 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
9.1
High School
Text size:
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I hereby suspend, effective July 1, 1942, compliance with the provisions of the said sections during the continuance of any of the wars in which the United States is now engaged.
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⚖️⚠️ Zone 3 (Lowest Ebb) Friction (-0.19)
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📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief / War Prerogative Tension
The following-named commissioned officers are hereby transferred from the Coast and Geodetic Survey to the service and jurisdiction of the War Department: Ensign Francis X. Popper Lieutenant John C. Ellerbe, Jr. Lieutenant Edward R. McCarthy Lieutenant James D. Thurmond…
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📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
The name of the Defense Communications Board, established by Executive Order No. 8546 of September 24, 1940, is changed to Board of War Communications. 2.
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📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
Executive Order No. 8197 of July 11, 1939 (4 F.R. 2953), is hereby amended to read as follows: By virtue of the power vested in me as President of the United States, and by the act approved May 3, 1939, entitled "An Act to amend the Act entitled 'An Act authorizing the…
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📜
Scholarly & Legal Citations
Exec. Order No. 9185 (June 23, 1942), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-9185-establishing-the-susquehanna-national-wildlife-refuge.
