A Map Showing the Progress of Discovery on the West Coast
Kohl innovated the use of color along the coasts to indicate the stages of discovery along the coast as well as the interior.
Chapter 2: Capturing the Past Through Maps
Antique maps may command high prices today, but this wasn’t always the case. Here we examine how old maps came to be considered valuable, which was related to the rising popularity of historical atlases and the campaign to create a national archive of maps at the Library of Congress.
Kohl’s map of the east coast used vibrant color to depict phases of exploration as waves upon the shore. Note his careful discussion on the map of the voyages of Sebastian Cabot.
Here Kohl carefully identified river voyages as well as coastal discovery, from the sixteenth century to his own day
This is the Coast Survey’s prototype for a map that captured the state of the rebellion in spring 1862. Note the detailed legend in the lower left marking battle sites and troop routes.
Each of these “sketches” attempted to tell the story not just of the latest state of affairs, but the progress over the war over time.
The Coast Survey published several of these maps during the war, each of which detailed the progress of Union control as well as the relative population of the loyal and insurgent states.
This was one of the first comprehensive maps of the maps, considered the most authoritative for years after it was compiled in connection with the railroad surveys of the 1850s.
This is one of the first comprehensive maps of the west, considered the most authoritative for several decades, and prompted by the railroad surveys of the 1850s.
Inspired by the nation’s centennial, Blanchard used both new and facsimile maps to showcase the history of exploration.
This type of map became popular in American schools in the late nineteenth century, a powerful visual depiction of the nation’s historical expansion and ideas of manifest destiny.
Donnell’s chart of presidential elections incorporates a tremendous amount of data, and is designed to illustrate the process of geographical expansion and the fluidity of political power.
Here is one of the many attempts to represent American history in graphic terms that flourished in the wake of the nation’s centennial, and which was updated in 1894.
Notice the zealously sectional interpretation of history in this map, especially the identification of northern liberty as emanating from Christianity, in contrast to southern slavery.
This map adopted techniques used almost a century earlier by Johann Kohl to represent the stages of discovery through the use of color.
Here the Civil War is represented in stages, as popularized by Henry Lindenkohl and the U.S. Coast Survey in the “Sketches of the Rebellion,” included above.
Here Charles Paullin represented advances in transportation technology in geographic terms in order to depict the qualitative changes over the course of American history.
Geographer John Wright devised these maps to represent the dynamism of agricultural growth in American history. Each map represents change over a ten year period.
Geographer John Wright devised these maps to represent the dynamism of agricultural growth in American history. Each map represents change over a ten year period.
Geographer John Wright devised these maps to represent the dynamism of agricultural growth in American history. Each map represents change over a ten year period.
This graphic depiction of history evokes Emma Willard’s “picture of nations” a century earlier, and was one of Rand McNally’s most popular sellers in the twentieth century.
Map of the Discovery of the East Coast of the United States
A Map Showing the Progress of the Discovery of the Gulf of Mexico
Sketch of the Rebellion for 1862
Historical Sketch of the Rebellion (1863)
Historical Sketch of the Rebellion (1864)
Map of the Territory of the U.S. from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean
Map of the Territory of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific (1858)
Historical Map of the United States
Territorial Growth of the United States of America, 1783-1866
The Presidential Elections of the United States
Diagram of the History of Political Parties in the United States (to 1880)
Historical Geography
French Explorations in the West, 1673-1743
Conquest of the South, 1861-1865
Transportation and Rates of Travel
Land Use Maps, Series 1
Land Use Maps, Series 2
Land Use Maps, Series 3
The Histomap: Four Thousand Years of World History