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HIST 301: Historian's Craft (Petty, Fall 2024)

Discussion: What does this tell us? 1780s Frenchman's Map

The Frenchman's Map, 1780s

Who made this map?
Why?
What is the historical significance & importance?
What does the accuracy of the map tell us?

Compare to Contemporary Maps

Frenchman's Map 1782

Armée de Rochambeau, 1782. Carte des environs de Williamsburg en Virginie où les armées françoise et américaine ont campés en Septembre 1781.
Created by Jean Nicolas Desandroüins for Gen. Rochambeau in 1782

Flohr Map, 1781
Map created by Georg Daniel Flohr, a German soldier in a French regiment during the US Revolution.
W&M Library Map, Williamsburg 1790
1908 recreation of a map from W&M library (n.d.). Date of original map unknown.
Williamsburg Map 1781 map Of Williamsburg
Williamsburg Map 1781 map Of Williamsburg Virginia And The Surrounding Country Drawing 1781 By Louis Alexandre Berthier An Aide To General Rochambeau

What Questions do these variations raise? Consider:

Who made each map?
What was there purpose?
How do these features shape their authority/credibility?

About the Map

Williamsburg Cultural Resources Map Project City of Williamsburg by McCartney, Martha W., 1937-; Kiddle, Christina A.; Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Department of Archaeological Research.
Call Number: John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library CWF Research Reports ; F234 .W7 M39 1996
Publication Date: 1996
Colonial Williamsburg archaeological reports about maps of the city

Sanborn Map, 1910
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Williamsburg, Independent Cities, Virginia.
W&M 1920