On the morning of September 11, 2001 four flights were hijacked by members of the Islamic extremist group, al- Qaeda, in coordinated attack against the United States. All four hijacked planes were scheduled to be cross-country flights from the East Coast to California. American Airlines Flight 11 (81 passengers, 11 crew, 5 hijackers) and United Airlines Flight 175 (56 passengers, 9 crew, 5 hijackers) left Logan International Airport in Boston, MA bound for Los Angeles. Both flights were hijacked and were crashed into the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Flight 11 struck the north tower and Flight 175 struck the south tower. The impact of the planes and extreme damage caused towers to fall within two hours. The Capital Building or the White House were believed to be another target of the attack. United Airlines Flight 93 (37 passengers, 7 crew, 4 hijackers) left Newark International Airport bound for San Francisco and was hijacked over Ohio. Upon hearing of the other attacks, the passengers revolted against the hijackers and the plane was crashed in Shanksville, PA. American Airlines Flight 77 (58 passengers, 6 crew, 5 hijackers) left Washington Dulles International Airport bound for Los Angeles and was crashed into the Pentagon. There was a total of 2,996 victims of the 9/11 attack including the 19 al- Qaeda hijackers.
The Pentagon, located in Arlington, Virginia, is the world's largest low-rise office building and is home to the United States Department of Defense. Construction began in 1941 and was completed by 1943. The photograph shows the damage which resulted from the plane impact on September 11, 2001. Flight 77 crashed into the western side of the Pentagon which caused an intense and ferocious fire. The section of the building struck was the only portion of the Pentagon that had been renovated at that time. The renovations included installing blast-resistant windows, making structural improvements, and adding sprinkler systems. The ongoing renovations meant the area was only half populated which reduced the number casualties on the ground. However, there were still 125 people who lost their lives inside the Pentagon that day.
Following the attacks, the Pentagon Renovation Program, nicknamed the Phoenix Project, set a goal to complete all reconstruction within one year of the attacks. By the first anniversary, the goal was met, offices at the point of impact had been restored, and people were working in those offices. Since the attacks, many memorials have been dedicated to remembering the victims and the first responders who saved many lives, including a memorial erected at the Pentagon which honors the184 lives lost in the attack, those on Flight 77, those who died in the pentagon, and the families of the victims.
Citations: Pentagon—photo courtesy of Edwin C. Bearss
National September 11 Memorial & Museum. FAQ about 9/11. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.911memorial.org/
Vogel, S. The Pentagon. (2011, April 7). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Pentagon_The.
Preview Activities
Look at It: Look at the photo of the Pentagon on 9/11. Photos of tragic events often invoke feeling in the viewer. How does this photo make you feel? Why?
Post Activities
Analyze: What might have been some reasons that the Pentagon was a target of the 9/11 attacks? Think about what government agencies are found in the Pentagon.
Be the Journalist: You are a journalism student writing a short article on the impacts of 9/11. What fact would you include? How would describe the damage to the Pentagon to individuals who might not have seen the actual event unfold?
STEM STAT: Examine the photo of the Pentagon after the 9/11 attack. From the photo, what can you tell about the plane's angle of entry and the subsequent damage to the building? Be specific.
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?
This map engraved by Theodor de Bry (1528–1598) was published in 1590 to accompany his reprint of Thomas Harriot's A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, which he issued in Latin, German, French, and English to ensure the book received wide circulation. Entitled "That part of America, now called 'Virginia'," the map includes the names of Indigenous settlements in the area around Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina and documents the geography of the Outer Banks and the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds. The entrance to the Chesapeake Bay ("Chesepiooc Sinus") was also named for the first time on a published map.
De Bry's engraving was based on earlier watercolor drawings and maps created by English colonial governor, explorer, artist, and cartographer John White (d. 1593), who, in 1585, was part of a failed colonizing expedition to Roanoke Island, which became known as the Lost Colony. John White's maps were oriented on a north/south axis, but de Bry reoriented his version, so that west is at the top of the map. Many early maps showed west at the top as it was how the area would have looked when arriving by ship from Europe.
This map portrays sea life and Indigenous people (both on land and in canoes on the water). The use of this type of imagery comes from the medieval tradition in which maps provided a visual record of the inhabitants as well as natural features such as animals and plants of an area. De Bry's engravings were used in other publications of the time, written by those who were part of expeditions to the New World to justify further colonization and exploration efforts.
Theodore de Bry 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.
Citation: Americae pars, nunc Virginia dicta: primum ab Anglis inuenta, sumtibus Dn. Walteri Raleigh, Equestris ordinis Viri, Anno Dn̄i. MDLXXXV regni Vero Sereniss. nostrae Reginae Elisabethae XXVII, hujus vero Historia peculiari Libro descripta est, additis etiam Indigenarum Iconibus. G3880 1590.W4 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? How is it different from other maps you have seen?
Post Activities
STEM Stat: On the map there is an image of a caliper or divider used for measuring distances on a map. What is the measurement being used for this map? How might this information be used by someone who wanted to chart a course to a new location? How might the orientation of the map have affected its overall usefulness?
Analyze: There are a number of items depicted on the map. Why would they have been included? P
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.
James I (1566–1625) was the king of Great Britain from 1603 until his death in 1625. The first English ruler from the House of Stuart, he succeeded Queen Elizabeth I after her death. He was the first British monarch to rule both England and Scotland.
In 1604, King James I issued a treatise entitled King James His Counterblast to Tobacco. The treatise would be reprinted in 1674 as tobacco had become a major cash crop in the Virginia colony. In this treatise, King James I gave various reasons for his strong dislike of tobacco, which he meant to counteract several of the then-common reasons for tobacco usage.
Europeans had been exposed to tobacco as early as 1560 and used it primarily as medicine. In the following decades, tobacco use among Europeans increased not only for medicinal purposes, but for recreational reasons as well. For many rulers in Europe, including King James I, tobacco smoking represented serious social implications and health issues. English leaders did not make the sale and smoking of tobacco illegal, although many other European countries did. Instead, King James I tried hard to reduce tobacco usage, even instituting a 4,000 percent tax hike on tobacco in 1604. The price increase, however, did little to reduce English demand for the “noxious weed.”
The attitude of the king and members of England's ruling classes changed when tobacco became a cash crop for its colonies. During the early years of English exploration and settlement of North America, only a small amount of tobacco was cultivated and exported. In 1604, when King James I issued this statement, the main suppliers of tobacco to the English were foreign shippers. Not until the 1620s did the English colonies of Virginia and Maryland begin to grow and export tobacco in large quantities. Accepting the inevitable, King James I decided the Crown might as well cash in on the popularity of tobacco and the state took control of the industry. Ironically, tobacco cultivation would lay the foundation for the success of England's American colonies.
Citation: King James, His Counterblast to Tobacco, London, Printed for J. Hancock, 1672, Accession GT3020 .J35 1672a, Manuscripts & Special Collections, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
VS.1, VS. 3, USI.1, USI. 4, USI. 5, WHII.1, WHII.4, VUS.1, VUS.2, VUS.3
Preview Activity
Scan it: Scan the document and list four words or phrases which stand out. What do these word or phrases tell you about King James I and his thoughts about tobacco?
Post Activities
Up for Debate: Discuss government regulation of tobacco. Argue for or against legalizing other drugs since tobacco and alcohol are both legal. Assign sides and hold a debate.
Analyze: Compare and contrast King James I's Counterblast to a modern-day Surgeon General's warning on tobacco and smoking. Today the emphasis is on the damage the drug does to a person's body and health. While King James certainly touched on that issue, to what else did he appeal?
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 prepared this map for publication in Mercator's Atlas Minor, published in 1607. The map shows both western and eastern hemispheres, split into two circular halves, and includes latitude and longitude lines as a locational grid. The map divides the Old and New worlds. On the left, the Americas are illustrated. There are certain areas which were not fully explored and Mercator had minimal information from which to base his map, although he did get some land masses correct, such as the Baja California peninsula. The right hand side of the map shows Africa, Europe, and Asia. Africa is divided into the principal colonial territories and kingdoms of the 16th century. The Arabian Peninsula, parts of Asia, and Europe are shown to be connected as on modern maps. The African Island of Madagascar and smaller islands in the Indian Ocean are shown as are the reefs in that area. The Asian depiction overestimates the size of New Guinea and underestimates the size of China, which was common in the period. The Persian and Ottoman Empires are represented on the map with demarcation lines showing the boundaries between the empires. Europe is shown with divisions reflecting the political boundaries from the 17th century.
Citation: Mercator, Gerhard, (1512–1594). Typus Orbis Terrarum: Domini est Terra & Plenitudo Ejus, Orbis Uerrarum, & Universi Qui Habitant in Eo. Psalmo 24. Amsterdam, 1607. G3200 1607 .M4 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? Does it look similar or different when compared to modern world maps?
Post Activities
STEM Stat: During the 16th and 17th centuries, new geographic information was being provided by explorers. Mercator projection maps were used for navigation of ships and were effective. In the 19th and 20th centuries, these maps were often misused and many misconceptions were developed. What misconceptions of the continents might one have in looking at this map?
Analysis: The map shows the political boundaries in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Why would this information have been helpful to explorers and navigators?
Another Perspective: Take on the role of an early explorer or navigator. Make a list of geographical features you will want to find on a successful expedition. Using the map, what information is present or missing that could impact the outcome of your expedition.
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
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?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?