[Nebraska Territory, Kansas Territory]

Date: ca. 1854
Place: Washington, D.C. (?)
Dimensions: 32 x 20 cm (12.5 x 20 in)
Condition Rating: VG+

Out of stock

SKU: NL-01357 Category: Tag:

Early survey map of the Kansas and Nebraska Territories.

Details

An early survey map of the Kansas and Nebraska Territories, likely dating from soon after the passage of the contentious Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854. The geometric distribution of ranges, emanating north and south from the baseline separating the two territories, and to the east of a principal meridian, show the methodical nature of surveying and distributing land to settlers on the frontier. Unlike some other early maps of the territories, the locations of Native American settlements are not noted.

This map was produced in the wake of the divisive Kansas-Nebraska Act, which upset the already tenuous Missouri Compromise, and set the stage for intense competition and violence over the slavery question in the new territories. The fallout from the Act, including the violence that came to be known as ‘Bleeding Kansas’ and the breakup of the Whig Party, helped to set the stage for the start of the Civil War seven years later.

Condition Description

Very good. Hand color.

References