AATF Convention 2021

Maps can engage students of all levels to the role France played in the New World. From Champlain’s sketch of Québec City to Moll’s beaver vignette, we notice an abundance of fish and furs that attracted early colonists. Franquet’s map of an Iroquois village adjacent to a Jesuit mission also highlights the role of French missionaries. It can also be argued that competing maps helped instigate the Seven Year’s War – comparing De L’Isle’s Carte de la Louisiane where the Carolinas are French territory to Mitchell’s Map of North America where Louisiana becomes British. The presenter will conclude by examining some of the earliest settlement maps of New Orleans.