Laurie & Whittle: The United States of North America
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Cartographer:
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Laurie & Whittle
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Title:
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The United States of North America
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Date:
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1810
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Published:
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London
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Width:
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9 inches / 23 cm
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Height:
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8 inches / 21 cm
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Map ref:
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USA9024
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Description:
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The United States east of the Mississippi River. The border configurations of Georgia, West Florida, and Tennessee are particularly unusual, as is the omission of Ohio which had become a state in 1803.
The exclusion of Ohio was almost certainly a political decision on the part of Laurie & Whittle. The British government, in an attempt to prevent further westward expansion by the United States, was eager to establish an independent Indian Territory stretching from the Ohio River beyond Lake Superior. This region is marked on the map in green.
Britain would, of course, would have control over the Native American tribes settled in this region which would act as a helpful barrier between the United States and British claims to Canada and the Pacific Northwest. This idea would be abandoned four years later after the Trearty of Ghent ended the War of 1812.
The inclusion of West Florida is an allusion to the West Florida controversy, a complicated dispute between the United States in Spain over whether the southern portions of Alabama and Mississippi rightfully belonged to Spanish Florida or were part of the Louisiana Purchase. The dispute remained unresolved until the purchase of Florida from Spain in 1819-20.
Original hand-colour. [USA9024] |