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French Maps of Early North America

© Suzanne Hill

I have a large print of an old map on my living room wall that I found in a shop at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. It’s of the Chesapeake Bay area, and was obviously created by the French. It displays such evocative names as: Amerique, Ocean Atlantique, Mer du Nord, Virginie, Grande Baye de Chesapeack, Payes des Apaches, and Nova Anglia. The map is decorated with detailed and spirited etchings of buffalo, priests, Indians, trees, ships, and compass wheels. Though not completely correct, the area depicted in the map is recognizable. Its geographical inaccuracies add to its charm.

I wanted to know how the French were involved in map making of the early exploration of the U.S. Upon investigation of the book, The Great Explorers, I discovered that North America became divided among Europe’s powers as they explored and created colonies. In this book I came across another lovely French map, displayed here, of South “Amerique.” Its illustrations of “canibales” and “sauvages” that fill the unknown interior are equally baffling and delightful.

Early Explorers

In the age of early North American exploration, the British consolidated their colonies along the Eastern seaboard and the Hudson Bay area. Spain concentrated its efforts in Mexico and Florida in its quest for gold. The Dutch attempted to establish “New Amsterdam” in what is now New York and Manhattan Island. And the French pushed up the St. Lawrence River, down the Mississippi River toward the Gulf of Mexico, and on to the Great Lakes following their desire for fur.

Jacques Cartier was a French navigator who helped the French lay claims to Canada. In 1534 the King of France sent Cartier to North America to search for gold and precious metals. He sailed into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, leading the first European expedition up the St. Lawrence River. He landed on the Gaspe Peninsula and claimed it for France. On his return to France, Cartier’s men brought a supply of corn that is purported to be the first corn ever seen in northern Europe. This highly illustrative map of the 1540s shows Cartier in the center wearing a red hat and short black coat.

Samuel Champlain firmly established the French in North America. In 1603, after a number of voyages to the West Indies, Mexico, and Panama, he sailed to Canada. He explored the St. Lawrence River for the king. In other expeditions, he explored the New England coast, helped found a settlement in Nova Scotia, and established a fur-trading post which was destined to become Quebec. He helped colonize French North America, and is often called the Father of New France.

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