Maps for Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History

World map / Nova totius terrarum orbis tabula / Amstelodami : Ex officina F. de Wit, [1680?] / Library of Congress

     A good map almost seems necessary for a book of historical nonfiction. Unfortunately for me, the other illustrations in Well of Souls were more important than any map I wanted to include. But, that’s why I have this blog. As easy as it might be to pull up Google Maps, some place names and even landscapes have changed over the last 400+ years. Here are some maps that I came across in my research that helped me understand the places and time periods I was writing about. (Also a quick note: they are not geographically organized, but organized by the chapters to which they correspond.)

These are all in the public domain, and while some are available at the Library of Congress's website (and I've linked to them), others are from books at the James Ford Bell Library/ University of Minnesota Libraries I was able to access while there.

Map of Africa / Wit, Frederik De. Totius Africæ accuratissima tabula. [Amsterdam?: S.N., ?, 1688] Map.

I - The Atlantic Ocean - This c. 1688 map of the African continent shows some of the place names that some like Hans Sloane may have heard of. You see names like Loango, Angola, Benin, and Guinea, which were place names that Europeans often used to distinguish African communities from which they took people.

Link to original.​

Map of the Caribbean / James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota Libraries

II - Jamaica - On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean islands saw an expansion of sugar plantations, which drove the trade in human beings from Africa.

The Harbours of Kingston and Port Royal Jamaica / James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota Libraries

II - Jamaica - Hans Sloane went to Jamaica as the new Governor’s physician. Before the earthquake of 1692, Port Royal was the commercial hub not just for the island, but the whole British Caribbean. The earthquake caused most of the city to sink.

Martinique / James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota Libraries

III - Martinique - Father Jean-Baptiste Labat arrived in Martinique at Ft. Saint Pierre, on the east side of the island. Although small, Martinique is quite mountainous, and he had to make his way across the island to where he would be working. ​

A map of the city plan of New York / Library of Congress

IV - New York - This 1755 map of the City of New York, shows it confined to lower Manhattan with the Common and Negro Burial Ground labeled. The first time the burial ground appeared on a map was in 1735, but the first burials could have been as early as the 1650s.

Link to original.

Maryland and Delaware / James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota Libraries

V - Maryland - Maryland is split by the Chesapeake Bay, and the land surrounding it proved good for growing tobacco. But like sugar, the crop needs near constant labor and Maryland colonizers used enslaved people of African descent for that labor. Goods moved mostly along the water, and Oxford on the eastern shore had a bustling trade.

Map of Suriname (along the Atlantic coast) / James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota Libraries

VII / XV / XVI - Suriname - Suriname sits on South America’s northeastern coast, but Paramaribo is located a little bit inland on the Suriname River. Like in Maryland, the waterways were the primary method of transportation. This map lays out the property lines of plantations, where long skinny parcels give each owner access to the river.

Plan of the Town of Paramaribo / James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota Libraries

VII / XV / XVI - ​Suriname - This map of Paramaribo was one the original illustrations for John Stedman’s book. 

South Carolina coast / James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota Libraries

VIII / XIX - South Carolina - We don’t know exactly where John Rose had property on the South Carolina Sea Islands or where he painted the now-famous watercolor of enslaved people playing music and dancing. This map shows St. Helena (spelled Elena) Island and Port Royal. South Carolina Coast. 

Lucy McKim would travel to Port Royal during the Civil War and record songs she heard among the newly freed people there.

The island of Hispaniola (St. Domingue is on the left) / James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota Libraries

IX / XIV - St. Dominque / Haiti - St. Domingue and later Haiti make up half of the island of Hispaniola. Port-au-Prince lies on the western gulf, while Le Cap (first Cap Francois and then Cap Haitien) is on the northern coast.

Plan de la Ville de Cap Francois / James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota Libraries

IX / XIV - St. Domingue / Haiti - In this map of Cap Francois, you can see the “Negroes Market” and La Fossette laid out on the left side of the image (the southern part of town)

Hudson Valley / James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota Libraries

XI - Albany - Traveling up the Hudson River from Manhattan and New York City, you get to Albany. The vestiges of Dutch New York are still there in the place names around Albany.​

Map of the Plan of New Orleans / Library of Congress

XIII / XVIII - New Orleans - An 1817 map of New Orleans showing the Place de Armes next to the Mississippi River and the French Quarter leading to the Place Publique, known today as Congo Square, and the Bayou St. John. Many of the accounts of African American music and dance in the city come from the levees, the space behind the city (what is today Congo Square), and the bayou leading to Lake Pontchartrain.

Map of New York City / Library of Congress

XVII - New York City - The city expanded tremendously between 1755 and 1840. What had been the Negro Burial Ground is now laid out as streets. The Minstrel musicians performed at theaters on the Bowery.

Link to original.

XIX - Washington, DC - Although much of the central part of DC had been laid out by 1860, much of the city was still being built, including the F street neighborhood where Eastman Johnson's father lievd.

Link to original.

This is part of Banya Obbligato, a series of blog posts relating to my book Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History. While integrally related to Well of Souls, these posts are editorially and financially separate from the book (i.e., I’m researching, writing, and editing them myself and no one is paying me for it). So, if you enjoyed this as much as a cup of coffee, you can throw me a couple of bucks here.​