Abel Buell:
Mapping a New Nation

On September 3, 1783, American and British representatives signed the Treaty of Paris that formally concluded the American Revolution and recognized the United States as an independent nation. In March 1784, only six months later, Abel Buell, an engraver from Connecticut, produced his New and Correct Map of the United States of North America, which is recognized as the very first map of the newly independent United States compiled, printed, and published in America by an American.

In this interactive program—positioned directly next the Abel Buell’s original document—visitors to the Library of Congress can explore details of the map in high resolution. They can also uncover Buell’s sources by comparing his map with six earlier maps.

One of the highlights of the interactive is “Across a New Nation,” which takes visitors on an expedition through the western frontier of the early United States with two American envoys, Ephraim Douglass and George McCully.