Delaware State Map. Putting Delaware on the Map

Transcription

1 Putting Delaware on the Map Delaware State Map Drawn by F. Lucas, Jr. - Engraved by G. W. Boynton 1838 For teachers: An 18 x 24 poster of an historic 1838 Delaware map is included in the Education Bulletin of the Delaware Historical Society. If you need a copy of the poster for your classroom, please amaccari@dehistory.org. Some suggestions for using the map as a learning resource follow. The activities vary in difficulty; choose the ones that are appropriate for your students, and then tap into your own creativity. Make your own individual worksheets or devise activities for small groups or the entire class. Collect modern world and Delaware maps or search the internet to compare Delaware then to Delaware now.

2 Putting Delaware on the Map Click on any topic below for printable learning activities: Dela Where? Find far-away places on the same latitude as Delaware. Dela When? Put the production of the 1838 map in historic context. Delaware s Borders: Curved, straight, and squiggly See how physical features and artificial lines create the state s outline. Delaware Government & Politics Find counties, hundreds, county seats, and towns that make up Delaware s political landscape. Small Wonder Use the map s scale of miles to measure the USA s second smallest state. Transportation: Delaware on the Move Discover the major improvements in Delaware s transportation in the 1800s. Answer key Look up answers to all learning suggestion activities. Remember, Delaware Historical Society is your resource for programs and primary sources about Delaware s rich history. Let us know how we can enhance your course of study this year.

3 Dela Where? Geographers locate places on the globe within a grid pattern of imaginary lines numbered in degrees ( ) and minutes ( ). Horizontal lines are called latitude; vertical lines are longitude. Look on the green border of the 1838 map to find Delaware s latitude. Using a world map with latitude and longitude lines, find far-away places on the same degree of latitude as Delaware. Check the places with the same latitude as Delaware Colorado, USA Florida, USA Great Britain Gulf of Mexico Iran Mediterranean Sea Michigan New Jersey, USA North Korea Norway Spain Thailand

4 Dela When? Before or After A map gives a snapshot of a place at a particular point in time. This map was printed in Was this map printed before or after these events? BEFORE AFTER DuPont Highway connected northern and southern Delaware ( ) Landing of the Kalmar Nyckel and Delaware s first Swedish settlers (1638) Chicken indusry (1923 ) Delaware Memorial Bridge (1951) Civil War ( ) Joe Biden became Vice President of the United States (2008) American Revolution ( ) Delaware s first railroad (1828) Automobile traffic (1907 ) Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution (1781) Dover Air Force Base established (1942) Your town was founded (Date: )

5 Delaware s Borders: Curved, straight, and squiggly Delaware s borders are made of both physical features and artificial lines Find the curved border (a segment of the circle). Find the straight borders. Find the squiggly border. 1. Which of Delaware s borders are based on physical features? Which are artificial? 2. Name the bodies of water that border Delaware. 3. Name the three states that are Delaware s neighbors. Find Delaware s three counties (Each is a different color on the map) 4. Are the county borders based on physical features, artificial lines, or a combination of the two? Why do you think the borders between counties were agreed upon?

6 Delaware s Borders: Curved, straight,and squiggly FYI: Delaware s artificial borders are the results of complicated border disputes with its neighbors, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey. Curved line: Its existence dates from a deed to William Penn from the Duke of York on August 24, 1682, which granted Penn all the lands west of the Delaware River within a 12 mile compass circle beginning at the courthouse in New Castle. The circle was first laid out by surveyors Isaac Taylor and Thomas Pierson in Straight lines: The western border is based on surveys by Englishmen Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, completed in The surveyors also drew the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland, solving a longstanding border dispute between those two states. These border lines are known as the Mason-Dixon Line. Delaware s southern border was drawn by two Maryland and two Pennsylvania surveyors in 1751 and confirmed by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the 1760s. Squiggly line: Delaware s eastern border was determined by nature: the Delaware River, Delaware Bay, and Atlantic Ocean. Ordinarily when water separates states, the border is the mid-line of the body of water. But Delaware s curved border actually extends into the Delaware River, giving Delaware complete control of the Delaware River within the 12 mile circle (see Curved line above). South of the circle, the border between Delaware and New Jersey is the mid-line of the Delaware River or Bay. The Wedge: Delaware is about one square mile bigger today than it was in 1838 when this map was published! This small addition, known as the wedge, is bordered by an extension of the east-west Mason-Dixon Line, an extension of the north-south Mason-Dixon Line, and a portion of the Delaware 12-mile Circle. In 1921 the wedge officially became part of Delaware.

7 Delaware s Government & Politics From the founding of the state, Delaware was divided into three counties. Counties were further sub-divided into hundreds. A hundred is an old English Saxon land division which held 100 freeholder families. The hundreds of Delaware originally served as judicial or legislative districts, but they now remain only as a basis for property tax assessment.

8 Delaware s Government & Politics 1. Name Delaware s three counties. In which county do you live? 2. Count the number of hundreds in Delaware in In which hundred is your town located on this 1838 map? Is your town still in the same hundred today? (Check a modern map or search the internet.) FYI: Originally, there were five hundreds in New Castle County, five in Kent County and two in Sussex County. As the population grew, several of the hundreds divided, creating new hundreds. By 1875, the total number of hundreds had grown to thirty-three. Since then, there have been no more changes. Delaware is the only state in the union to use hundreds as a political subdivision. The mapmaker used different typefaces or fonts to distinguish between towns, county seats and the state capital: Towns: Italics, Upper and lower case letters County seats: Standard print, Upper and lower case letters State capital: STANDARD PRINT, ALL UPPER CASE LETTERS 3. Using the typefaces as your guide, find the county seat of each county and the capital of the state of Delaware. 4. Research Delaware s county seats. Are today s county seats the same as the county seats in 1838? (Hint: One county seat changed after the Civil War.) FYI: Before the American Revolution, New Castle was Delaware s capital city. When the British invaded northern Delaware in 1777, the capital was removed to Dover because of its central location and its relative safety from British raiders on the Delaware River.

9 Small Wonder Use the scale of miles under the name DELAWARE on the 1838 map. How many miles is Delaware from east to west at its widest? How many miles is Delaware from north to south? How many miles is it from your town to Cape Henlopen at the mouth of the Delaware Bay? How far is it from your town to Wilmington in the northern part of the state? FYI: Delaware is 2,044 square miles, the second smallest state in area. The highest point in Delaware is 422 feet on Ebright Road in New Castle County, near the Pennsylvania border.

10 Transportation: Delaware on the Move In the early 1800s, Delaware roads were so poor that most people and cargo travelled by water whenever possible. This 1838 map shows two new major improvements in Delaware s transportation. Find the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (1828) in New Castle County. Find Delaware s first railroad from New Castle, Delaware to Frenchtown, Maryland (1828). 1. What important connection did both canal and railroad make? (Look where they start and end.)

11 Transportation: Delaware on the Move In 1837 a new railroad connected big cities on the east coast of the Mid-Atlantic States. Find the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad line that goes through Wilmington in New Castle County. For the following activities, add a compass rose to the map with north pointing up. 2. In what direction does the train run from Wilmington, Delaware to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania? 3. In what direction does the train run from Wilmington, Delaware to Baltimore, Maryland? FYI: The rail line through Wilmington built in 1837 still exists today! It is part of the Northeast Corridor commuter rail that business people, tourists and Delaware s senators and Vice President Biden ride from Wilmington to Washington, D.C. By the 1850s a new train line, built down the center of the state, connected northern and southern Delaware. The Delaware Railroad became the backbone of the state; new towns sprang up along the railroad Cheswold, Felton, Viola, Wyoming, Harrington, Greenwood, Delmar. With the coming of the railroad, Delaware farmers could ship their produce quickly to far-off places, so wheat was replaced by more perishable(and profitable) items like melons, berries and peaches as the state s main agricultural crops.

12 Answer Key Dela Where? Parts of Iran, Mediterranean Sea, New Jersey, North Korea, and Spain share Delaware s 39 0 N latitude. Dela When? Before or After Map was printed after: landing of Kalmar Nyckel, American Revolution, Delaware s first railroad, Delaware ratified the Constitution. Map was printed before: DuPont Highway, Chicken Industry, Delaware Memorial Bridge, Civil War, Joe Biden became Vice President, automobile traffic, Dover Air Force Base. Delaware s Borders: Curved, straight, and squiggly 1. Artificial: Curved border and straight borders; Physical: Squiggly border 2. Delaware River, Delaware Bay, Atlantic Ocean 3. Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey 4. All county borders are a combination of physical features and artificial lines. Delaware s Government & Politics 1. New Castle, Kent, Sussex New Castle County=New Castle; Kent County=Dover; Sussex County=Georgetown; State capital=dover Small Wonder East to West (widest) = about 30 miles North to South (longest) = about 96 miles Transportation: Delaware on the Move 1. Both canal and railroad connected the Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay. 2. Wilmington to Philadelphia=Northeast 3. Wilmington to Baltimore=Southwest