Map of New England and New York, ca. 1676
Item 7494 info
Maine Historical Society
British cartographer John Speed based this map on an earlier series by Dutch cartographers Jansson and Visscher. Speed’s version, one of the earliest British maps of the region, demonstrates the colonial transition of New Amsterdam to New York, and depicts England as the region’s dominate colonial power. It first appeared in Prospect of the most famous parts of the world (1676), an atlas published in London nearly fifty years after Speed’s death.
Maps like this were both propaganda tools and cartographic renderings for colonists. English place names intentionally overwhelm Indigenous place or community names, which are scattered and often incorrect, deceptively conveying a sense of Native disorganization and English dominance. The presence of animal illustrations like beaver, bear, fox, egret, ermine, elk, and otter, illustrate the importance of North American natural resources to the European market, particularly the fur trade.
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