1785 Etats-Unis De L'Amerique Septentrionale Avec Les Isles Royale, De Terre Neuve, De St. Jean, L'Acadie.
By: Charles Francois Delamarche
Date: 1785 (dated) Paris
Dimensions: 18.75 x 24.75 inches (47.5 x 63 cm)
A rather scarce and important map of the United States following the American Revolution and the 1783 Treaty of Paris. The map presents the new extent of the United States following the treaty and is the first map to present the geography of the 1784 Jefferson Ordinance, which was an early effort by the newly formed government of the United States to settle the territory north and west of the Ohio River.
This map depicts much Spanish Territory from the early settlement of Santa Fe in New Mexico to the Western banks of the Mississippi River, the entire Gulf Coast and the Florida Peninsula. The new boundaries of the Unites States are contained within the Atlantic Coast, the Great Lakes and the Eastern Bank of the Mississippi River. At the time of printing, the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia extended from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. A small section of what would eventually become West Virginia is identified as Indiana.
Arguably the most significant aspect of this map is the table in the lower right corner. It lists all the current states and capitals of America as well as the proposed states of the 1784 Jefferson Ordinance. The proposed states include Silvania, Michigania, Chersenosus, Arsenistpia, Metropotamia, Illinoia, Saratoga, Washington, Polypotamia, and Pelisypia. Of all these proposed names, only Michigan, Illinois, and Washington would find their way to represent future states.
Another aspect of this map which cannot be ignored are the numerous locations of Native American tribes within the new boundaries of the United States. The 1783 Treaty of Paris and the Jefferson Ordinance meant nothing to indigenous peoples regarding rights and ownership of their homelands. To them they were meaningless documents from a white man's war that did not concern them. It was this sentiment and the contrasting belief by America that their treaties legitimately extended their land rights well into Native American territory that would lead to the War of 1812 and the innumerable historical events that followed.
Condition: This map is in A condition with lovely hand coloring wide margins and no tears or holes.
Inventory #11645
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