First Mapping of America

Alexander Johnson is an international authority on historical cartography. He has been a Senior Consultant in Cartography to Christie's in London and was formerly head of the map department at one of the world's leading antiquarian book dealers in New York.

• ContentsPART IChapter 1: IntroductionMaps, Knowledge & Power in the Age of the EnlightenmentPART II The Antecedents and Genesis of the General SurveyIntroduction Chapter 2: The Civilian and Military Antecedents of the General SurveyGovernance of Colonial Affairs in British North America; Signs of Progress;Lord Halifax Becomes President of the Board of Trade; Introducing William Gerard De Brahm;The Development of Military Cartography in British North America; Introducing Samuel HollandChapter 3: The Genesis of the General SurveyThe Role & Status of the Board of Trade; The Grenville Ministry & the New Colonial Policy;The Important New Policy Questions of the Day; The Proclamation of 7 October 1763; Samuel Holland’s Timely Proposal for the General Survey; The Plan for the Survey is Defined; Linking Surveys, Envisioned as Additions to Complete the General SurveyScientific Surveying as Practiced by the General Survey of British North AmericaChapter 4: The Pre-Existing Information Influencing The General SurveyPre-Existing Maps of the Northern District: The Maps of L’Acadie versus Nova Scotia; Depiction of the Island of St. John up to 1764; Depiction of Cape Breton Island up to 1764; Pre-existing Maps for the Southern District: Spanish Florida, 1565-1763; Spanish Conceptions of Florida during their First Colonial Period; Maps & Geographical Information acquired by the British in 1764PART III Mapping ‘Infant Colonies’: The Commencement of the General SurveyChapter 5: The Northern DistrictHolland Arrives to Begin The Survey; Holland Assembles his Team; Holland Manages the Inherent Operational Issues; The Survey in Nova Scotia Begins; Holland’s General Map & Account of the Island of St. John; Holland’s Account of the Natural Attributes of the Island of St. John’s; Holland’s Survey Received; The Decision About St. John; The Survey of Cape Breton Island; Whitehall’s ‘Temporary’ Settlement Freeze in Cape Breton Surveying Operations in Cape Breton Island; Holland’s Reports and General Map of Cape Breton; Holland Quietly Supports Nova Scotian Activism; Whitehall Continues the Settlement Freeze; The Survey Begins in Québec; Holland’s Own ‘Murray Map’; Mapping the Gaspésie; Charting Lower St. LawrenceSurveying Newfoundland’s Dependencies The Magdalen Islands; Anticosti Island; Labrador; ConclusionsChapter 6: The Southern DistrictIntroduction; Whitehall’s High Hopes; James Grant Becomes East Florida’s First Governor; De Brahm Sets Out; De Brahm’s Reconnaissance Mapping of the Atlantic Coast, 1765-1766; De Brahm’s First Mission; De Brahm’s Survey of Mosquito Inlet; The Second Coastal Reconnaissance Mission, Spring of 1765; Mapping the St. John’s River & the Search for a Trans-Peninsular Navigable Passage; The Gathering Storm; De Brahm ExcludedPART IV ‘Closing the Net’: The General Survey during the Administration of the Earl of HillsboroughIntroductionChapter 7: The Northern DistrictCharting New EnglandThe Coastal Surveys from Cape Ann to the Kennebec River; Whitehall’s New Forestry AgendaChapter 8: The Southern District The Trials of William Gerard De Brahm; Romans and Durnford Take Over De Brahm’s Duties on the General Survey; East Florida, 1768-1771: Growing Pains; The Search for a Connection to the Gulf of Mexico; Tampa Bay: ‘A Good Harbour for all Purposes’; Enter Bernard Romans; The General Survey Charts the Gulf Coast; The Northernmost Parts of East Florida’s Atlantic Coast; Towards Miami; De Brahm’s Atlantic Pilot: The Florida Keys & The Gulf Stream; Bernard Romans Continues the Gulf Survey; West FloridaThe Downfall of the Earl of HillsboroughPART V The General Survey under the Administration of the Earl of DartmouthIntroductionLord Dartmouth becomes Secretary of State for the Colonies; Power an