Map Map of Central America, 1856. Map of Central America
About this Item
Title
- Map of Central America, 1856.
Other Title
- Map of Central America
Summary
- This 1856 map of Central America was created by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, based on information provided by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and edited and printed by the New York mapmaker and publisher Adolphus Ranney (1824-74). It shows the extreme southern part of Mexico and the six countries of Central America: Guatemala, Honduras, San Salvador (El Salvador), Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Mosquito Coast (later British Honduras, today Belize). Panama is still part of Colombia, which at this time is called New Granada. Relief is shown by hachures, contours, and spot elevations in feet. Depths are shown by soundings in feet. Three inset maps at the lower left show the Bay of Fonseca, the Port of San Juan de Nicaragua, and the southern part of Nicaragua from San Juan to the Bay of Fonseca, i.e., from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts. The main line of the proposed canal route, running through Lake Nicaragua, is marked on the latter map. In the 1850s, Nicaragua was thought to be the most likely route of an isthmian canal, with Panama not yet seriously considered. Notes on the main map provide information about distances and geographic features, information found on other maps, and competing territorial claims and the status of various boundaries in the region. Under the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, signed by Great Britain and the United States in April 1850, the two powers agreed not to seek exclusive control of the proposed isthmian canal or territory on either side of such a canal, not to fortify any position in the canal area, and not to establish colonies in Central America. The Mosquito Coast, where the British already had settlements, was an exception. The scale of the map is in statute miles.
Names
- Julius Bien and Company Lithographer.
- Ranney, Adolphus, 1824-1874 Editor.
- United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Creator.
- United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations Associated Name.
Created / Published
- New York City : United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1856.
Headings
- - Belize
- - Costa Rica
- - Cuba
- - El Salvador
- - Guatemala
- - Honduras
- - Jamaica
- - Mexico
- - Nicaragua
- - Panama
- - 1856
- - Administrative and political divisions
- - Boundaries
- - Expeditions and surveys
- - Topographic maps
- - Treaties
Notes
- - Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
- - "Scale 1:2,500,000"--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
- - Original resource extent: 1 map : color ; 73 x 93 centimeters.
- - Original resource at: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries.
- - Content in English.
- - Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
Medium
- 1 online resource.
Source Collection
- American Geographical Society Library Digital Map Collection
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2021668658
Online Format
- compressed data
- image
LCCN Permalink
Additional Metadata Formats
IIIF Presentation Manifest
Part of
Format
Contributor
- Julius Bien and Company
- Ranney, Adolphus
- United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
- United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations