“A Map of the British and French Dominions in North America . . . By their Lordships Most Obliged, and very humble servant John Mitchell . . . Publish’d by the Author.” 1755.

“A Map of the British and French Dominions in North America . . . By their Lordships Most Obliged, and very humble servant John Mitchell . . . Publish’d by the Author.” 1755.

Many scholars view this as the most important map in American history because of its role in defining the new nation. Mitchell, a Virginian educated in medicine in Edinburgh, created this map for political reasons, to show how the French were encircling the British in North America. The Board of Trade saw his 1750 draft and commissioned this 1755 version. The Americans and British negotiators drafting the 1783 peace treaty drew the U.S. borders on this map. Since that time, it has been used on numerous occasions to settle international and interstate boundary conflicts.

1755