The American Revolution and Its Era: Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies, 1750-1789
History
[Detail] An accurate map of North America. 
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Introduction
The American Revolution and Its Era represents an important historical record of the mapping of North America and the Caribbean. The collection includes more than 2,000 different maps and charts (plus many duplicates). Many of the maps were produced by the most famous cartographers and map publishers of the time. The special feature Mapping the American Revolution and Its Era provides useful background on the events that provides useful background on the events that created a demand for maps in the 18th century, as well as the technological advances that contributed to improvements in the accuracy of maps.
The American Revolution and Its Era comprises historical maps which provide teachers and students with primary sources with which they are likely to have had little experience. As such, the collection's maps provide new windows through which to view — and to better understand — the late colonial period and the revolutionary period in U.S. history. Grappling with these maps can increase interest in and comprehension of various topics in the historical eras represented in the collections.
Topics related to colonial America that can be explored using the collection include European claims in North America, the location of Native American tribes, and the stationing of British troops in the colonies. A number of Revolutionary War battles are particularly well documented in the collection's maps; these include battles at Bunker Hill, White Plains, Trenton and Princeton, Philadelphia, Saratoga, and Yorktown. The terms of the Peace of Paris can also be explored via maps in The American Revolution and Its Era.
Last Updated: 06/12/2009