Mapping the Nation - A Companion Site to Mapping the Nation by Susan Schulten
Statistical Map of North America
This is typical for its time: the title claims it as “statistical,” the data is simply listed on the map. Soon thereafter maps would begin to represent statistics through shading and other techniques.
Map of Climate Patterns in the U.S.
Forry, a physician, made the first map of climate patterns at the request of the Surgeon General, to study the relationship between geography and disease.
The World at One View
Large and detailed depictions like this were popular in schools and homes; note the depiction of landscapes and “female costumes” to represent geography.
Pictorial View of the World
This broadside also attempted to capture a wide range of information, including world topography, and graphs that charted world chronology and the lives of distinguished men.
Map of the Distribution of Rain
Guyot adapted this map to illustrate the dramatic differences of rainfall around the world, collapsing extensive data onto a single image.
Gilpin’s Hydrographic Map of North America
Gilpin designed this to shift the nation’s center of gravity westward toward the neglected interior, just as the nation acquired new territories in 1848
Course of Cholera in Boston in 1849
This is one of many examples of a map designed for etiological purposes, in this case to locate the source of the city’s 1849 cholera epidemic.
Map of the Medical Topography of Baltimore
Baltimore’s city physician Thomas Buckler designed this map to study the pattern of cholera in 1849, particularly as it related to the city’s water supply and to the outbreak of fever.
Ground Plan of Baltimore City and County Alms House
Buckler adopted a cartographic approach to the cholera outbreak of 1849 by mapping the pattern of disease in the city as well as within the alms house.
Chart Exhibiting the Annual Mortality of New Orleans
Barton designed this longitudinal chart to study the relationship between yellow fever and other aspects of city life, including weather and seasonal changes.
Sanitary Map of the City of New Orleans
Barton compiled this complex map to locate the origin of the yellow fever outbreak of 1853, even noting the arrival of ships in the city port.
Chart of Average Summer Temperatures
This is one of five charts of temperature designed by Lorin Blodget, the first made in the United States and derived from decades of research collected by the Smithsonian Institution.
Chart of Average Annual Temperature
This annual chart of temperature, designed and compiled by Lorin Blodget, was one of the earliest work by the famed lithographer Julius Bien.
Map of Annual Rainfall
Blodget published several maps of seasonal and annual rainfall, the result of decades of observations collected by the Smithsonian, the Army, and other federal agencies.
Map of the Territory of the U.S. from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean
This was one of the first comprehensive maps of the maps, considered the most authoritative for years after it was compiled in connection with the railroad surveys of the 1850s.
Map of Slavery in the U.S., Based on the Census of 1850
A European was the first to map American census data. The map at lower left shades the density of the slave population, and identifies the number of slaves per square mile.
Freedom and Slavery, and the Coveted Territories
Anti-slavery activist John Jay used this map to alert northerners to the threat of slavery in the west, and to promote the cause of the newly-founded Republican Party in the 1856 presidential election.
Meteorology in its Connection with Agriculture
Notice that Joseph Henry uses this map to integrate several different aspects of the environment, including rainfall, woodland, and prevailing winds.
Map of the Discovery of the East Coast of the United States
Kohl’s map of the east coast used vibrant color to depict phases of exploration as waves upon the shore. Note his careful discussion on the map of the voyages of Sebastian Cabot.
A Map Showing the Progress of the Discovery of the Gulf of Mexico
Here Kohl carefully identified river voyages as well as coastal discovery, from the sixteenth century to his own day
Reynolds's Political Map of the United States
One of several maps made to promote Republican John Fremont’s campaign for president in 1856. Note that Kansas is highlighted, the center of violent conflict over slavery.
Map of the United States, Showing by Colors the Area of Freedom and Slavery
One of many maps created for the 1856 election. The dark lines across the interior represent the expeditions of John Fremont, Republican candidate for president.
General Map of the United States
Here Johnston distinguished between states important and exporting slaves in order to convey areas of growth and decline in the south.
A Map Showing the Progress of Discovery on the West Coast
Kohl innovated the use of color along the coasts to indicate the stages of discovery along the coast as well as the interior.
The Temple of Time
Willard designed this graphic to teach the relationship between geography and history: the ceiling marks individuals, coordinated by pillars of time and the growth of nations on the floor.
Map of the Territory of the United States from the Mississippi River to the Pacific (1858)
This is one of the first comprehensive maps of the west, considered the most authoritative for several decades, and prompted by the railroad surveys of the 1850s.
Isothermal Chart of the Region North of the 36th Parallel &c.
The use of lines to represent average temperatures spread quickly in the nineteenth century. Stevens’ chart is designed to promote a northern transcontinental railroad route in the 1850s.
American Temple of Time
In the American edition, Willard drew the outline of the continental nation as the backdrop, and asked students to detail the nation’s history and geography on the floor, ceiling, and pillars.
Washington Map of the United States
Maury compiled this massive wall map to showcase new thematic maps on the eve of the Civil War, which appear along the lower edge of the map.
Map of the Basin of the Mississippi
Gilpin emphasized geographical relationships to showcase the “great basin” of the interior, which he predicted would soon become the economic, political, and demographic center of the nation.
Map of the World Exhibiting the Isothermal Zodiac
Gilpin adopted Humboldt’s lines to “demonstrate” that the U.S. was destined for economic and political supremacy.