This work provides an account of the mapping of the United States from its colonial origins to 1900. Many of the significant maps & mapmakers are discussed in a chronological narrative that begins with the first European mappings of the New Netherlands (New York State, Massachusetts & Connecticut) in the early 17th century & concludes with the Rand Mc Nally atlases of the 1890s. Maps tell us a great deal about the transformation of America`s national identity. Having undertaken extensive research in map collections & with rare archival material in the US & overseas, geographer John Rennie Short provides a description of how maps have both embodied & reflected power, conflict & territorial expansion throughout American history. His illustrated text focuses on maps of colonial claims, surveys of the American West, & national atlases, paying particular attention to how & why certain groups
- Native Americans, for example
- were included on or excluded from maps.