Gerard Mercator (1512–1594) was born in Flanders, now known as Belgium. The son of a shoemaker, he graduated in 1532 from the University of Louvain, where he studied astronomy, geography, and mathematics. Afterwards he worked as an engraver, calligrapher, geographer, and a maker of scientific instruments. He also made globes and produced maps, including a map of the world first published in 1569 that was intended to help sailors navigate the globe. As a cartographer, his most important innovation was flattening the spherical planet into a two-dimensional map. The latitude and longitude lines were drawn in a straight grid. Known as the Mercator projection, it inflates the size of landmasses that are farther away from the equator so that places like Greenland are not the correct size or proportion. Despite the distortions found in these maps, his maps were highly regarded and are still in use for navigational purposes today.
Cartographer Jodocus Hondius (1563–1612) prepared this map for publication in Mercator's Atlas Minor, published in 1607. While quite detailed and relatively correct in shape, it is not a completely accurate depiction of the continent of Africa. It is unlikely that this map was used to navigate the waters to Africa, but it is likely that it would have been studied by someone in Europe wanting to learn more about Africa.
Citation: Mercator, Gerhard, (1512–1594). Africae Descriptio, 1607. G8200 1607 .M47 Voorhees Collection. Library of Virginia.
History:, USI.1, USI.2, USI.4, VUS.2, WG.1, WG.3, WHII.1, WHII.2
Science: 4.9, 5.6, ES.1, ES.8
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the map. What do you notice about it? Why might it appear this way?
Post Activities
Analyze: The map shows many settlements close to a source of water – why would this have been? What is the importance of water to building and maintaining civilizations?
STEM Stat: During the 16th century, new geographic information was pouring in from around the world, trade routes were being established, and sailors, explorers, and merchants needed accurate maps. Mercator projection maps were used for navigation and were effective, but the flattened perspective could lead to misconceptions about some locations. What misconceptions of the African continent might one have in looking at this map?Preview Activity
Look at it: Look at the image and text of the pamphlet title page. What does information does it give? What so you think is the purpose of the pamphlet?
Post Activities
Artistic Exploration: Draw an advertisement or poste promoting the possibilities of investing in a joint- stock company venture in the 1600’s.
Think about it: If you were an English investor at this time, would you invest in the Virginia Company of London? Explain your answer.
Another Perspective: If you were a member of an indigenous community and saw the arrival of strangers set to colonize your lands, how would you feel? What would be your concerns? Explain.
Antonio Sansone was born in 1856 in Termini Imerese, Sicily. He immigrated to the United States in 1880. By 1899, he had established Antonio Sansone & Company, a wholesale dealer of fruit located on East Main Street, near the city market, in Norfolk. Other members of the Sansone family immigrated to the United States and engaged in selling fresh produce. Some members of the family would go on to sell fruit on their own or, occasionally, for a competitor.
Antonio Sansone’s house was a full one when the census taker visited in 1900. In addition to his wife, Annie Sansone, the family included six daughters, two sons, a nephew, and Antonio’s mother, Salvatora. Other family members lived in the neighborhood which was a mixture of immigrants and native-born Virginians who worked in variety of occupations. When Antonio Sansone died in 1956, the extended Sansone family had experienced a typical immigrant trajectory of upward mobility as they built their businesses and lives in a new country.
Citation: Norfolk’s Sansone Fruit Company, shown about 1915, Mann Collection, Prints and Photographs, Special Collections, Library of Virginia.
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the photograph. What can you infer about the subject based upon the image? List three or four ideas.
Post Activities
Think About It: As ports of entry for immigrants, cities such as Norfolk, Baltimore, and New York have long been centers for diverse populations. Newly arrived immigrants settled in ethnically diverse neighborhoods, established businesses, and worked to bring members of their families to the United States. Pretend you have just immigrated to Virginia. Write a letter to a relative in your homeland giving them your opinion of whether they should emigrate or remain in their home country.
Current Connection: Many people immigrate to the United States every year. What challenges do today’s immigrant communities encounter which may not have existed in the early 1900’s? Consider the diversity of the countries immigrants represent and how that may impact their ability to immediately assimilate to American culture?
The Fry- Jefferson map was first published in 1753. It was, at the time, the most comprehensive map of 18th Century Virginia. Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson were two of the most successful surveyors in the Virginia Colony. They collaborated and produced this map which included the first detailed rendering of the Virginia river system and the Northeast- Southeast orientation of the Appalachian Mountains. The map would go on to have eight editions and would be used by future mapmakers for over 56 years.
The Fry- Jefferson map was created in response to British concerns that French colonists were encroaching on British territory. As there were no clear boundaries at that time and very few maps accurately depicted the lands that the Virginia colony held, the acting governor of Virginia Lewis Burwell, commissioned Colonel Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson to prepare a map which would establish the boundaries of British and French held land.History: VS.1, VS.4, VS.5, USI.1, USI.2, USI.5, VUS.1, VUS.2, VUS.3
Earth Science: ES 1, ES 8
Preview Activity
Look at it: Look at the map. What do you notice about it? How is it different from other maps of Virginia?
Post Activities
Artistic Exploration; The Fry- Jefferson Map includes an image in the lower right hand corner. What is it depicting? Why would such an image be included on a map?
Analyze: Identify four features on the map which are not found on a current map of the state. What assumptions can you make about why they were not found on the Fry- Jefferson map?
STEM Stat: In the 18th Century, surveying could involve several techniques including the use of transits which were instruments which used to establish a straight line, read angles, and measure distances through a lens and theodolites which measured both horizontal and vertical angles to “triangulate” the positions of objects in a specific area. In some cases, star charts were used to map areas in which there was not an object from which to take a measurement. What issues or problems do you see with these approaches? How might these potential issues be resolved using modern surveying equipment such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) or Geographic Information System Mapping (GIS) in which multiple forms of a data are used to create and analyze accurate maps?
This photograph shows a deerskin mantle that was believed to have been presented by Paramount Chief Powhatan (whose given name was Wahunsonacock) to Captain Christopher Newport of the Virginia Company in 1608. The mantle is embroidered with shells and depicts a man and two deer. It would have been worn like a cloak or hung on a wall. The amount of detail that went into creating the mantle indicates that its owner would have been considered a person of stature and wealth.
At the time of the arrival of the English colonists in 1607, Powhatan ruled Tsenacomoco, an alliance of about thirty tribes and petty chiefdoms anchored by the Powhatan Indians. The mantle was part of a ceremony that Newport hoped would improve the strained relationship between colonists and Indigenous Virginians by recognizing Powhatan’s status among the tribes while also showing that he was subordinate to King James I. John Smith warned Newport that Powhatan would not recognize the king's authority over him because he saw himself as a king in his own right. Powhatan refused to travel to Jamestown for the ceremony so Newport and the English traveled to Werowocomoco, the place of Powhatan leadership, along the north side of the York River.
During the ceremony, Powhatan was presented with several gifts including a bedstead and clothing in the English style. In return, he presented Newport with the deerskin mantle and a pair of his old moccasins. When it came time to present Powhatan with his crown, he refused to bend his head so Newport and Smith leaned on his shoulders to force his knees to bend and the crown was placed on his head.
The attempts at alliance failed and relations between the English and the tribes deteriorated. The marriage of Powhatan's daughter Pocahontas to settler John Rolfe in 1614 brought a short period of peace before Powhatan's death in 1618.
The original deerskin mantle presented to Newport is held in the permanent collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England. This photograph was part of a collection of large photograph albums prepared by the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce to display at the Virginia Room at the 1939 World's Fair in New York.
Citation: Virginia New York World's Fair Commission. Deer-skin mantle presented to Captain Christopher Newport by King Powhatan. 1939 World's Fair Photograph Collection, Library of Virginia.
Sebastian Münster (1488–1552) was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and scholar. In 1544, he published Cosmographia, the earliest description of the world written in German, although editions were also published in English, French, Italian, and Latin. Cosmographia was one of the most popular and successful works of the 16th century.
This map, which had also been included in Münster's previous work, Ptolemy's Geographia Universalis (1540), is thought to be the first to depict North and South America connected to each other with no link to another continent. The Americas were thus represented as a completely New World. The map perpetuates the explorer Giovanni da Verrazano's idea that the area between Pamlico and Albemarle Sound along the Carolina Banks was an isthmus (between "Terra florida" and "Francisca") with a sea above it connecting to the Pacific Ocean. The illustrations include a ship representing Ferdinand Magellan's ship that circumnavigated the globe and the flags of Spain (in the Caribbean) and Portugal (in the South Atlantic) showing the areas claimed by those countries.
Early mapmakers like Münster depicted the New World based on maps drawn from coastal explorations, land travels, and even information heard word of mouth from various sources. They used symbols, pictures, and other illustrations to represent various geographic features, topics, and themes. Sometimes mapmakers drew in known but unseen mountains or inland seas, or they simply embellished the map with mythical creatures like mermaids and centaurs. Unexplored areas were otherwise left as empty or “blank” land.
Citation: Munster, Sebastian, (1489–1552). Novae Insvlae XXVI Nova Tabvla. Basilae: Per Henrichum Petrum, 1545. G3290 1545 .M8 Voorhees Collection. Library of Virginia.
History: USI.1, USI.2, USI.4, VUS.2, WG.1, WG.3, WHII.1, WHII.2
Science: 4.9, 5.6, ES.1, ES.8
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the map, what continents does the map show? Why do you think it appears this way in the 16th century?
Post Activities
Analyze: How does the mapmaker's depiction of North and South America represent a European perspective?
STEM Stat: The map shows North and South America based on the information known in the 16th century. It is the first map to show North and South America connected to each other. What other features on the map are in line with current maps of the Americas? Which features are not accurate? What had to occur for cartographers to produce more accurate and detailed maps needed for exploration and navigation?
Theodore de Bry (1528–1598) was born in Liege, Flanders (now part of the Netherlands), to a wealthy Protestant family and was trained as a goldsmith and engraver. As the Spanish and British began to explore North and South America, de Bry became interested in producing illustrations of the early descriptions from the reports provided by the explorers. He wanted to create images that could be marketed and sold to anyone. The ten volumes of narratives and engravings related to travel in the Americas produced by de Bry and his sons revived English interest in colonization after the failure of the Roanoke colony and served as an important source of information for Europeans who were interested in learning more about the New World.
This map of the western hemisphere was engraved by de Bry and included in one of the volumes published in 1596. The engraving depicts North and South America based on information gleaned from expedition surveys and personal accounts from explorers. It was the first map of North America to show the geography of Virginia and Florida as documented by John White, who was part of expeditions to Roanoke Island in the 1580s, and Jacques Le Moyne, who participated in a French expedition to Florida in 1564. Four famous explorers, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Ferdinand Magellan, and Francisco Pizarro, are shown in each corner of the map, along with the date of their discoveries of land in North or South America.
Citation: Bry, Theodor de (1528-1598). America sive novvs orbis respectv Evropaeorvm inferior globi terrestris pars / [Theod. de Bry]. Francofurti ad Moenum: formis Theod. de Bry, 1596?. G3290 1596 .B7 Voorhees Map Collection, Library of Virginia.
History: USI.1, USI.2, USI.4, VUS.2, WG.1, WG.3, WHII.1, WHII.2
Science: 4.9, 5.6, ES.1, ES.8
English: 4.7, 5.7
Preview Activity
Look at It: Look at the map. What do you notice about it? How is it different from other maps you have seen of North and South America?
Post Activities
Analyze: Identify the persons pictured on the map and show how they relate to American history.
STEM Stat: Cartographers and engravers in the 16th Century used their understanding of the world to create maps for practical purposes, like navigation, and for educational purposes. How has technology, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping software and satellite imagery, changed the way maps are created today?
Artistic Expression: Create your own map of America. Draw one person in each corner who you believe has had the most impact on American history. Explain why you chose those individuals.
In 1906, Robert Baden-Powell presented this bust of John Smith to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Although best known as the founder of the Boy Scout movement, Baden-Powell was also an artist of considerable skill. The family of Baden-Powell's mother claimed descent from Captain John Smith, with whom Baden-Powell had much in common. Both were military men, authors, and key figures in British colonial affairs.
Captain John Smith was an English explorer who helped establish Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America. Smith worked as a soldier of fortune before joining the Virginia Company of London in 1606. He sailed to the New World on the Susan Constant, one of three ships containing crew and supplies. During this journey Smith was arrested for mutiny by the ship's captain, Christopher Newport. Smith was nearly executed, but was saved by the intercession of a chaplain and the captain of one of the sister ships.
After reaching the Chesapeake Bay in 1607, Smith served as one of the governing councilors for the new colony. The first few months of the colony's existence were extremely difficult, and many of Smith's companions died of illness or in fighting with the Indigenous people who lived there.
Late in 1607, Smith was captured by the brother of the Powhatan chief. Smith later recorded that he had been rescued from certain death by Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, but the accuracy of this account is debated. The event is sometimes interpreted as a ritual ceremony of execution and rescue that served to symbolically make Smith and the English subordinate to Powhatan.
Smith became the president of the council at Jamestown in the fall of 1608. He established trading relations with several Indigenous tribal leaders and put the settlers to work by enforcing his unpopular rule that "he that will not worke shall not eate." While Smith was able to improve conditions, the colonists failed to produce enough food and they were dependent on trade with the nearby Powhatan Indians. Smith was forced to travel back to England in 1609 after a stray match lit his powder bag and set his clothing aflame, resulting in severe burns. Smith published his Generall Historie of Virginia in 1624, and it remains an important source for those studying this period of American history.
Citation: Baden-Powell, Robert S. S. John Smith. ca. 1905. Bronze. Virginia State Artwork Collection, Library of Virginia, Visual Studies Collection.
VS.1, VS. 3, USI.1, USI. 4, USI. 5, VUS.1, VUS.2, VUS.3
This map is attributed to Captain John Smith (1580–1631) and is one of the earliest representations of Virginia. Smith began a three-month exploration of the Chesapeake Bay and its adjacent waterways in June 1608. He interacted with Indigenous peoples and relied on them for information about the region, including areas that he did not visit. The names and locations of Indigenous tribes living in the tidewater region they called Tsenacomoco are included on the map, thereby preserving Indigenous knowledge of the land and the people living there.
Smith intended the map to build interest and support for the Virginia Company's settlement of the colony and the search for exploitable resources for financial gain. While his exploring party never found gold, the lost colony of Roanoke, or a passage to the Pacific Ocean, he did gather enough information to produce a map that accurately delineated the Chesapeake Bay and the tidewater region of Virginia, one of the earliest maps to do so. The map shows the Chesapeake Bay and four major rivers: the Powhatan, Pamunk, Tappahannock, and Patowomec, as they were named by the Indigenous tribes. The English renamed the rivers as the James, York, Rappahannock, and Potomac, respectively. Vignettes on the outside of the map include an illustration of Paramount Chief Powhatan in his lodge.
In November 1608, Smith sent several documents to England, including a “Mappe of the bayes and rivers.” In 1611, he engaged William Hole to engrave the map of Virginia to accompany his pamphlet entitled A Map of Virginia. With a Description of the Countrey, the Commodities, People, Government and Religion (1612). Smith's map was the most accurate and detailed map of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic coastline produced in Europe until 1673. It was the source for virtually all printed maps of Virginia for more than sixty years and is considered to be one of the most significant maps of colonial America.
To learn more about the map from the perspective of Virginia Indian tribes, watch this video (4:23 min.) on Indigenous Reflections on Smith's Map and the Recovery of Tribal Pasts.
Citation: Virginia / Discovered and Discribed by Captayn John Smith 1606; Graven by William Hole. G3880 1624 .S5 Voorhees Collection, Library of Virginia.
History: VS.1, VS.2 VS.3, VS.4, USI.1, USI.2, USI.3, USI.4, WHII.4, VUS.1, VUS.2, VUS.3
Science: 4.9, 5.6, ES.1, ES.8
Preview Activity
Look at it: What geographic area is shown on the map? What features on the map are different from maps we use today? What do you notice about the map's orientation? Why might John Smith have presented the map in that way?
Post Activity
STEM Stat: English explorers like John Smith did not have much information about the land they named Virginia. What is included in this map? What kinds of things are drawn in detail? What is missing from this map? What can the map tell us and what can it not tell us about this time period?
Analyze: How would this map be useful for people seeking to travel to Virginia or invest in new colonies?
Food For Thought: If you were to draw a map of a place you had never visited, how would you gather information about that place? What would you do differently if you were to draw a map of your home town or city? What would you include and think is important enough to point out to people unfamiliar with the area?