The Mismapping of America

The Mismapping of America PDF Author: Seymour I. Schwartz
Publisher: University Rochester Press
ISBN: 9781580463027
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
The history of five major cartographic errrors of American geography that have had considerable resonance long after they were perpetrated. The Mismapping of America presents and analyzes the significant cartographic errors that have shaped the history of the United States. Perhaps the most blatant error is the very name "America," that honors Amerigo Vespucci, who not only never set foot on North American soil, but also played no significant role in the discovery of South America. The appearance of the name "America" imprinted on a map ensured its permanence. Other significant errors explored in The Mismapping of America include Giovanni da Verrazzano's misinterpretation of Pamlico or Albermarle Sound for the Pacific Ocean, thereby suggesting the presence of an isthmus in the middle of the North American continent; the existence of a direct North West passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; the misconception that California was an island; and the insertion on Lake Superior of a fictitious island that is specificallyreferred to in defining the boundary of the United States. The inclusion of pertinent rare maps enhances this rich and revealing narrative of several intriguing episodes in the history of the geographic evolution of the United States. Seymour I. Schwartz is the Distinguished Alumni Professor of Surgery at the University of Rochester, and an expert on the history of mapping America. He is the coauthor of Mapping of America and author of The French and Indian War 1754-1763: The Imperial Struggle for North America and This Land is Your Land.

The Mismapping of America

The Mismapping of America PDF Author: Seymour I. Schwartz
Publisher: University Rochester Press
ISBN: 9781580463027
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 262

Get Book Here

Book Description
The history of five major cartographic errrors of American geography that have had considerable resonance long after they were perpetrated. The Mismapping of America presents and analyzes the significant cartographic errors that have shaped the history of the United States. Perhaps the most blatant error is the very name "America," that honors Amerigo Vespucci, who not only never set foot on North American soil, but also played no significant role in the discovery of South America. The appearance of the name "America" imprinted on a map ensured its permanence. Other significant errors explored in The Mismapping of America include Giovanni da Verrazzano's misinterpretation of Pamlico or Albermarle Sound for the Pacific Ocean, thereby suggesting the presence of an isthmus in the middle of the North American continent; the existence of a direct North West passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; the misconception that California was an island; and the insertion on Lake Superior of a fictitious island that is specificallyreferred to in defining the boundary of the United States. The inclusion of pertinent rare maps enhances this rich and revealing narrative of several intriguing episodes in the history of the geographic evolution of the United States. Seymour I. Schwartz is the Distinguished Alumni Professor of Surgery at the University of Rochester, and an expert on the history of mapping America. He is the coauthor of Mapping of America and author of The French and Indian War 1754-1763: The Imperial Struggle for North America and This Land is Your Land.

Exploring North America, 1800-1900

Exploring North America, 1800-1900 PDF Author: Facts On File, Incorporated
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
ISBN: 143813052X
Category : Culture
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
The establishment of a new nation following the American Revolutionary War meant there were many ripe chances for explorers to investigate the new world that comprised the United States.

Exploring North America, 1800-1900

Exploring North America, 1800-1900 PDF Author: Maurice Isserman
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
ISBN: 1438101848
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
This text covers; African Americans in the western fur trade; The artist as predator: John James Audubon; The discovery of South Pass; How Alexander Mackenzie inspired the Lewis and Clark Expedition; Jack London and the romance of Alaska; Thomas Jefferson's study of North American geography; The transcontinental railroad surveys of the 1850s.

Navigating the American West

Navigating the American West PDF Author: Thomas A. Permar
Publisher: The Western Sea Press
ISBN: 0990730603
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
If you’ve ever stared in awe at the Rocky Mountains and wondered how early travelers could possibly traverse those peaks, then this is the book for you! In a time of smartphones, GPS devices, and voice automated navigation systems, it’s difficult to imagine crossing unknown desserts, mountains, and prairies with just a few ancient techniques and the heavens above. This history of movement across the American West brings three centuries of travel to life. It shows how four different cultures, in four different areas, migrated across this harsh and beautiful land: the native travelers on foot, Spanish conquistadors on horseback, Frenchmen by canoe, and American settlers by wagon. In this history, the “who,” “where,” and “when” take a back seat to the fascinating “how.” How did they find their way from place to place? How did they measure time, distance, and direction traveled? How did they provide themselves with food, water, and shelter—the barest necessities of human existence? Travel the myth and reality of the raw land that made the American West. Discover the depth of human bravery, determination, and ingenuity. And enjoy the adventure.

Mapping Nature across the Americas

Mapping Nature across the Americas PDF Author: Kathleen A. Brosnan
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022669657X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 445

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Book Description
Maps are inherently unnatural. Projecting three-dimensional realities onto two-dimensional surfaces, they are abstractions that capture someone’s idea of what matters within a particular place; they require selections and omissions. These very characteristics, however, give maps their importance for understanding how humans have interacted with the natural world, and give historical maps, especially, the power to provide rich insights into the relationship between humans and nature over time. That is just what is achieved in Mapping Nature across the Americas. Illustrated throughout, the essays in this book argue for greater analysis of historical maps in the field of environmental history, and for greater attention within the field of the history of cartography to the cultural constructions of nature contained within maps. This volume thus provides the first in-depth and interdisciplinary investigation of the relationship between maps and environmental knowledge in the Americas—including, for example, stories of indigenous cartography in Mexico, the allegorical presence of palm trees in maps of Argentina, the systemic mapping of US forests, and the scientific platting of Canada’s remote lands.

Group Identity in the Renaissance World

Group Identity in the Renaissance World PDF Author: Hannah Chapelle Wojciehowski
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107003601
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
This book argues that new groups and radically new concepts of group identity emerged throughout the world during the Renaissance.

The Secret Token

The Secret Token PDF Author: Andrew Lawler
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 1101974605
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Book Description
*National Bestseller* A sweeping account of America's oldest unsolved mystery, the people racing to unearth its answer, and the sobering truths--about race, gender, and immigration--exposed by the story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. In 1587, 115 men, women, and children arrived at Roanoke Island on the coast of North Carolina. Chartered by Queen Elizabeth I, their colony was to establish England's first foothold in the New World. But when the colony's leader, John White, returned to Roanoke from a resupply mission, his settlers were nowhere to be found. They left behind only a single clue--a "secret token" carved into a tree. Neither White nor any other European laid eyes on the colonists again. What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke? For four hundred years, that question has consumed historians and amateur sleuths, leading only to dead ends and hoaxes. But after a chance encounter with a British archaeologist, journalist Andrew Lawler discovered that solid answers to the mystery were within reach. He set out to unravel the enigma of the lost settlers, accompanying competing researchers, each hoping to be the first to solve its riddle. Thrilling and absorbing, The Secret Token offers a new understanding not just of the first English settlement in the New World but of how the mystery and significance of its disappearance continues to define and divide our country.

The Mystique of the Northwest Passage

The Mystique of the Northwest Passage PDF Author: Bożenna Chylińska
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 152752499X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
The book highlights the 16th-century English-Atlantic connections based on the world division defined by two fundamental documents of the late 15th century: namely, the papal bull Inter Caetera, and the Portuguese-Spanish Treaty of Tordesillas. Despite this, an imaginary Northwest Passage to the wealth and markets of the Far East captured the attention of Elizabethan merchants and navigators searching for an alternative sea route to Asia to challenge the Portuguese and Spanish commerce monopoly. The core of the book is Sir Martin Frobisher’s three Arctic voyages of 1576–78, intended to connect the Protestant focus on wealth acquisition with the territorial expansion. Although Frobisher’s venture lacked opportunities for advancement, he marked his place in history by creating a fascination for the mythical Northwest Passage and an interest in North America. The book is based on the eyewitness accounts of the expeditions’ captains, and will appeal to a large audience, from teachers and students in the general humanities to those specifically interested in language, literature, and trans-Atlantic and Renaissance studies.

The Islamic Manuscript Tradition

The Islamic Manuscript Tradition PDF Author: Christiane Gruber
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253029201
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Over the course of ten centuries, Islam developed a rich written heritage that is visible in paintings, calligraphies, and manuscripts. The Islamic Manuscript Tradition explores this aspect of Islamic history with studies of the materials and tools of literate culture, including pens, inks, and papers, Qur'ans, Persian and Mughal illustrated manuscripts, Ottoman devotional works, cartographical manuscripts, printed books, and Islamic erotica. Seven essays present new scholarship on a wide range of topics including collection, miniaturization, illustrated devotional books, the history of the printing press in Islamic lands, and the presence and function of erotic paintings. This beautifully produced volume includes 111 color illustrations and provides a valuable new resource for students and scholars of Islamic art.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert and the Elizabethan Expedition

Sir Humphrey Gilbert and the Elizabethan Expedition PDF Author: Nathan J. Probasco
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030572587
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
This book examines the 1583 voyage of Sir Humphrey Gilbert to North America. This was England's first attempt at colonization beyond the British Isles, yet it has not been subject to thorough scholarly analysis for more than 70 years. An exhaustive examination of the voyage reveals the complexity and preparedness of this and similar early modern colonizing expeditions. Prominent Elizabethans assisted Gilbert by researching and investing in his expedition: the Printing Revolution was critical to their plans, as Gilbert’s supporters traveled throughout England with promotional literature proving England’s claim to North America. Gilbert’s experts used maps and charts to publicize and navigate, while his pilots experimented with new navigating tools and practices. Though he failed to establish a settlement, Gilbert created a blueprint for later Stuart colonizers who achieved his vision of a British Empire in the Western Hemisphere. This book clarifies the role of cartography, natural science, and promotional literature in Elizabethan colonization and elucidates the preparation stages of early modern colonizing voyages.