Maps Add Meaning To History

with the finest ships and seamen of the time the nation of Phoenicia became a great sea trading power Phoenicians carried articles produced by the Egyptians and the Babylonians facts facts from history books about the ancient nation of Phoenicia we can pull these facts together give them more meaning by looking at a map showing where fenicia was a historical map shows us Phoenicia at the Eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea its location bordering the sea helps us understand why the Phoenicians were active in Sea trade if we look Inland once again we see that Phoenicia was located between Egypt and Babylonia it's not surprising that goods from both of these countries were were sent to this seafaring Nation to be traded by the Phoenicians the ancient Romans made their impact in other ways history books tell us of the power of Roman armies the quality of Roman roads the magnificence of Roman architecture and the fairness of Roman laws this gives us an idea of Roman accomplish ments but how much more complete our picture becomes with a map showing the boundaries of the Roman Empire it's helpful to compare a historical map with a present day map of the same area these maps are drawn to different scales the present day map of the Mediterranean area is larger than the historical map of the same area but in your mind you can think of this map as being larger and this one as being somewhat smaller to make a comparison the Roman Empire included an area now occupied by dozens of nations of Europe Africa and Asia political maps add meaning to the places we read about in history but we also study particular events The Voice Voyages of Columbus for instance history books tell us that Columbus discovered the new world but what part of the new world let's look at a map showing columbus' Explorations a key on the map shows four lines which stand for his four voyages on his first voyage all Columbus found were a couple of large islands his second voyage took him to other parts of these islands it wasn't until his third voyage that he touched a continent South America on his fourth voyage he found part of Central America he never did see North America we get a clear picture of Columbus's discoveries from the map here's a map of North America drawn 150 years after Columbus notice the blank space people didn't know if this area was land or water from what had been explored of the new world at the time it was hard to know notice also that these waterways are open did they end a little farther Inland or did they continue through to the Pacific Ocean to India this map helps us understand why many voyages of exploration were launched during the the 16th and 17th centuries why men such as John Kat jacqu Cartier and Henry Hudson sail their ships into waterways opening into the Atlantic they were looking for a shortcut to Asia here's a map of North and South America showing the route ships followed in 1900 between New York and San Francisco all the way around the tip of South America Amica can you see how this might add meaning to an event such as the construction of the Panama Canal the map shows how much shorter the route is for ships passing through the canal across the isos of Panama sometimes history becomes more meaningful with the help of physical maps seeing the mountain ranges in eastern North America for instance helps us understand an event in the life of Daniel bu this painting portrays the time he led the settlers through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky considered an important event but why the Appalachian Mountains form a barrier between the Atlantic coast and the central plains it was difficult for settlers to find their way through Daniel Boon showed the newcomers a trail that led through the Cumberland Gap opening the way for settlement of the central plains of North America events in African history can also be made more meaningful with the help of maps but rather than using physical maps we will look at some political maps of Africa these show the results of events taking place over a period of about a 100 years in 1880 we see that small parts of the continent were controlled by Foreign peoples the key shows who the rulers were Turkish Portuguese British and French each symbol corresponds to a different part of the map by 1891 there were more rulers and more of the was under foreign control by 1914 almost all of Africa was ruled by foreign countries by 1957 however the pattern had begun to change independent countries were forming this change was very rapid 6 years later in 1963 most of Africa was made up of independent states significant political changes clarified by Maps another kind of map that can help us learn about changes is one showing population this one shows the population density in the United States in 1840 the legend tells us that the denser the pattern on the map the greater the number of people in an area in 1840 most of the people of the United States were in the East the West was pretty much unsettled there were less than two people per square mile of land in 1840 but by 1850 just 10 years later in the area of California there was a high concentration of people seeing this rapid change in population helps us understand the importance of an event that took place place in 1848 gold being discovered in California the discovery of gold was important not only for the money involved but for the population increase it helped create in the Far West sometimes it's helpful to examine population changes over a longer period notice that in 1870 most of the people in the United States lived in the eastern half of the country the people were spread out fairly evenly over this area but looking at later Maps 20 years apart we see how the population began to grow and cluster more and more people began living closer and closer together we got a picture of growth from a country of farmers living apart from one another to a country of City dwellers living close together changes in history are made more meaningful with the help of maps maps help us understand particular events they help us understand how physical features of the Earth influence events physical maps population maps political maps these are just a few of the many kinds of maps we use to add meaning to [Music] [Applause] history