The following presentations require the latest
version of the FLASH player (freely available over the Web):
Virtual Tour: Library of Congress
Virtual Tour: Rivers, Edens, Empires: Lewis & Clark
and the Revealing of America
Experience the exhibition as
it was mounted in the Northwest Gallery of the Thomas Jefferson Building
at the
Library
of
Congress
Animations:
Cartographic Formation of The North American Continent
This presentation depicts
the emerging European world view of North America, which began
to change upon the dissemination of reports
from the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Other explorers sailed forth,
including Amerigo Vespucci who identified these lands as a
separate continent. Utilizing
Vespucci's travel accounts, German geographer Martin Waldseemüller depicted
this new continent on a large world map in 1507, naming it "America" in
Vespucci's honor.
Sources
for the Lewis & Clark Expedition Maps of 1803 and
1814
The two key maps that bracket the Lewis and Clark expedition are
the Nicholas King map of 1803 and the Track Map of 1814. Nicholas
King drew upon the most current information in creating his map.
This presentation shows how existing maps were used to
form King's map, which it is believed, Lewis and Clark took on
their journey.The 1814 Track Map was the landmark product of the
expedition. Based on a large map kept by William Clark in his St.
Louis office,
this map shows the geographic exploration made by Lewis and Clark.
It was part of the expedition's official publication.
Mapping the West
It
would take another fifty years after Lewis and Clark to complete
the cartographic image of the West we know today. This presentation
shows the routes of the various expeditions from Lewis and
Clark to the railroad surveys. Each path is represented by
a different color. The maps shown can be found within this
exhibition.
"We shall delineate with correctness the great
arteries of this great country: those who come after us will
. . . fill
up the canvas we begin." --Thomas Jefferson, 1805
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