Summary

What did the first map of the New World look like? What were its origins?

The oldest known map of the New World was drawn up by Juan de la Cosa in 1500. Juan was a Spanish sailor who operated as the captain of the Santa Maria.

The map shows details of the Caribbean islands and the northern coast of South America, but only shows a vague outline of the Americas that extend to the left-hand margin of the map.

Juan’s map is a representation of two map-making traditions. The center of the map uses the style of a “portolan chart,” (traditionally used in Europe and West Africa). The portolan chart style was an early nautical chart that marked coastlines in great detail- using navigational landmarks, hazards, and ports- but showed very little of the geography farther inland; this method is applied to the marked Caribbean and the coast of northern Brazil (which had been explored). The other style, the medieval tradition Mappa Mundi, is depicted by the usage of vaguely lined landmasses further illustrated with biblical scenes, myths, and legends; this method is applied to North and the rest of South America- which is just a roughly shaped mass of green.

The detailed portions of the map by Cosa suggest that he used: his own sketch maps, notes from his voyages with Columbus (1492-1500), reports from the Pinzon brothers’ voyages (1499), and John Cabot (1497).

There are several irregularities in regards to the scale of the western portion of map; particularly the “English Coast,” which appears to exaggerate the size of Newfoundland (explored by John Cabot).

What did the first, correct, map of America look like? What about after the Louisiana purchase, or the creation of all 50 states? How did these maps differ?

In 1507 a world map was created by Marin Waldseemüller in St Dié, near Strasbourg, France; this project was meant to document new geographic knowledge coming in from the 15th century to 16th century. Waldseemüller’s map included information gathered during Amerigo Vespucci’s voyages (1501-1502); who was the first explorer to realize that what Columbus had “discovered” was actually a new, separate continent. This is why Waldseemüller christened the new lands “America,” in honor of Vespucci.

In 1785, six months after the Treaty of Paris has been signed, Abel Buell produced a “New and Correct Map of the United Staes of North America.” This map is recognized as they very first map of an independent United Staes; compiled, printed, copyrighted, and published in America. However, during this time, before the US Constitution was adopted, the federal government was unable to dictate state’s borders. As a result, many of the state’s boundaries extended from the east coast to the Mississippi River; the western boundaries of Pennsylvania and Virginia were not formally established; and the state of Connecticut had not been resolved.

In 1803 the Unites States bought approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River for $15 million, from France; this transaction is known as the Louisiana Purchase.

Since the ratification of the United State’s Constitution in 1789, land under American control has grown from its original 864,746 square miles to 3,531,905 square miles; all through territorial acquisitions.

How do modern maps compare to previous maps?

As seen below and above, the earliest forms of cartography involved paper, ink, and a few other, simple, tools. These early maps required the work of many people, and a lot of years to complete. First, someone would have to dedicate themselves to traveling around, marking down notable landmarks in their journals, as well as staying alive. Then, these journals- with all their information inside- would be delivered to the cartographer in charge of the specific project (or would be placed in a location accessible by cartographers if they so wished it). Next, the cartographer would have to absorb all the information of the land- landmarks, water locations, terrain specifics, as well as possible hostiles- and get to work measuring and drawing up their masterpiece. Depending on the various factors affecting the individual or of the land they are mapping, this process can take from weeks, to years.

Now, however, map making is much quicker, and simpler- at least for people. In recent years, computer generated maps of the Earth have become common place, and are stored in the internet- meaning anyone and everyone has accessed to these generated maps. Not to mention that things like the Google Earth project, completed in 2005 and updated once a month, have also shown our progression in the world of map making.

What methods and tools did early cartographers utilize to create their maps? How do their methods differ from modern cartographers?

During the 16th century cartography was on a rise; commercial expansion, the colonization of new lands, and a hunt for military superiority led to the need for accurate maps. Furthermore, cartographers began to gain influence, some factors that contributed to this was: printing; different methods of surveying; and new inventions used specifically for measurement, the Mercator projection for example.

One of the biggest changes in the cartography world was Gerardus Mercator’s map, known as the Mercator Map, is the first attempt to make our spherical world appear, correctly, on a flat surface. And, it wasn’t easy at all, despite the knowledge of longitude and latitude lines, which only became warped and useless, trying to represent a spherical shape on a flat plane leads to things becoming distorted. To fix the issue Mercator choose to keep the lines straight and distort the size of lands closest to the poles; his result was what is now known as the “Mercator Projection,” a useful tool for sea navigation as the Mercator Projection utilizes straight lines, or loxodromes.

In general, cartographers use a wide range of tools throughout the mapmaking process: rulers, calipers, compasses, mathematics, papers, pens/ink, globes, telescopes, latitude, and longitude.

As mentioned previously, two methods used during this time was the portolan chart and the Mappa Mundi.

How did using these maps, especially the incorrect ones, affect people of the time? What were the effects, if any?

Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine navigator and explorer, became interested in the recent discovery of the New World after meeting Columbus and hearing stories of the new lands. As such, in 1497, Vespucci set out on his first voyage, but it wasn’t until his third that he made his claim for fame. In service to King Manuel I of Portugal, Vespucci set sail for Cape Verdi; his ship’s sailed along the coast of South America from Cape Săo Roque to Patagonia, discovering present-day Rio de Janeiro and Rio de la Plata. Vespucci and his ships retuned via Sierra Leone and the Azores route- this time with the knowledge that he had discovered a new continent. In a letter to Florence, Vespucci called south America the New World, thus naming it a new continent. Which is what led to the New World becoming America, when Waldseemüller created his map, labeling the land “America” in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.

The reason Vespucci is an important, other than knowing where “America” came form, is many of the conquistadors and explores believed the New World to be an undiscovered part of Asia. Columbus called the Native Americans ‘Indians’ because he believed he had landed in India. So, Vespucci acknowledging America as a new continent set the world in a new direction; changing it in never done before ways; and led to an increase need and popularity for correct maps.