This is a map that was illustrated by Gerard Schagen of Amsterdam in 1671. It depicts California as an island and only shows one great lake instead of four. He largely detailed the interior of both North and South America with various animals, rivers, and mountain ranges. He also included many ships at sea and an “image” of the native population in the bottom left corner.
One thing that I had noticed right away when I looked at this map was the illustration of the native population. It is what Europeans of the time would normally perceive as the indigenous people of the Americas. They are wearing minimal clothing, shooting arrows, and harvesting food. This was very stereotypical and helped reinforce the notion that the native people were savages and less advanced than European society. This relates to John Smith’s General History of Virginia. He had depicted the natives as savages and barbarians, which was the common thought of the time, and this map is no exception to this thought.
I had also noticed the gold bars in the illustration in the bottom left corner. This shows how the conquistadors and explorers commonly thought the Americas were littered with gold. Many explorers only went over to America because of the hope to find gold, which would inevitably lead to personal glory. Most of these men searched years and years for gold but turned up empty handed. By including the gold bars in this picture, it helped keep the belief of gold in the Americas alive; it kept explorers traveling and going back to America.
There were also snakes illustrated in the picture as well. I viewed this as a biblical illusion because snakes represent the devil and temptation. Religion was a very important part of European society during this time, and many people thought that the natives were heathens and were “compelled to characterize native religion as idolatrous or as ‘Divell worship’.” By including two snakes in this illustration, it kept people believing in this misconception of the Native Americans and their religion.
Nice analysis, Halle! I think that it's really cool how you found biblical allusion in your map. I agree with what you said about how it reinforced the misconception of the natives as barbarians or savages. I definitely think religion was a huge part of the European discourse at this time, especially because the Spanish were so strongly Catholic and the English were strongly Puritan (a main reason they came to America). Awesome analysis, really interesting finds.
ReplyDeleteIn one of the maps that I analyzed, I also found reference to their hopes of riches in the New World. For yours it was the hope of gold, but in mine it was the hope of cornering the beaver market. It's interesting that England sent men over to find wealth for the British crown but ended up loosing it to the colonists.
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