A New Map of the English Empire in America

Competing colonial claims in the New World, from an English perspective.

The British colonies in North America can be seen stretching from Nova Scotia to South Carolina on this hand-colored copperplate engraved map, issued in 1721. The image extends as far west as the Mississippi River and includes Hudson’s Bay, the Great Lakes, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Toponyms reflect a variety of European settlements, indigenous tribes and villages, forts, and geographic features. Pictorial elements highlight the last group; with mountain ranges, deserts, and savannas all located within the colony of Carolina alone. Several annotations throughout the image also provide fascinating contemporary information. According to Burden,

“The unique features of the map are the extensions to the Appalachian mountain range. A branch extends southwards deep into the Florida peninsula, west towards the Mississippi River, and north into the Michigan peninsula. The peninsula bears a hard plateau along its length and nearby is stated On the top of these Mountains is a Plaine like a Terras Walk about 200 miles in length. The origin of this feature have not been identified. Lake Erie takes on unusual proportions and may have the same source, but the rest of Canada has its origins in Jaillot’s PARTIE DE LA NOUVELLE FRANCE, 1685. A typical R. Mitchisipi or Rio Grande depiction of the period frames the west; the Mines of Iron are also derived from the Tevenot, 1681. A large inset occupying the empty space of the lower right of the map focuses on the oceanic waters between Europe and the New World.”

A second inset map, showing the area around Boston harbor, can be seen immediately above. This simple plan, derived from a larger map by Thomas Pound in 1691, actually represents the most up-to-date cartographic information on the sheet.

The rest of the image was lifted directly from a map published by Robert Morden and Christopher Browne in 1695, reflecting competing territorial claims between the British and French from years prior. English colonies are carefully outlined and labeled, with Pennsylvania’s claims extending into Canada near Niagara. Further disputed lands in Nova Scotia and Maine are shown entirely under British control.

This particular example of the map was published in London in 1721 for inclusion in John Senex’s New General Atlas. Senex acquired the plates after Morden’s death in 1703, with John Harris re-engraving the dedicatory cartouche and publisher’s attribution in the title cartouche.

Source: Burden 750.