South America agreeable to the most approved Maps and Charts

Title

South America agreeable to the most approved Maps and Charts

Description

Map depicts South Amrica, the islands of Galapagos with a decorative cartouche. From Millar's New Complete Universal System of Geography.

ca. 1782

Artist

Kitchin (Kitchen) (1718-1784)

Thomas Kitchin (or Thomas Kitchen (1718–1784) was an English engraver and cartographer, who became hydrographer to the king. He was also an author, who wrote about the history of the West Indies. He produced John Elphinstone's map of Scotland (1746), Geographia Scotiae (1749), and The Small English Atlas (1749) with Thomas Jefferys. The Large English Atlas (with Bowen 1749–60) was a serious attempt to cover England at large scale. In 1755 Kitchin engraved the Mitchell Map map of North AmericaHe worked for London Magazine. He produced 170 maps for London Magazine (1747–83). Kitchin was the head hydrographer for the King of England. Kitchin frequently stole the works of other cartographers, which is one reason why he created so much work as a cartographer. His book, The Present State of the West-Indies: Containing an Accurate Description of What Parts Are Possessed by the Several Powers in Europe was published in 1778 by R. Baldwin in London.

Historical Description

One of the earliest known South American civilizations was at Norte Chico, on the central Peruvian coast. Though a pre-ceramic culture, the monumental architecture of Norte Chico is contemporaneous with the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. In 1494, Portugal and Spain, the two great maritime European powers of that time, on the expectation of new lands being discovered in the west, signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, by which they agreed, with the support of the Pope, that all the land outside Europe should be an exclusive duopoly between the two countries. Beginning in the 1530s, the people and natural resources of South America were repeatedly exploited by foreign conquistadors, first from Spain and later from Portugal. These competing colonial nations claimed the land and resources as their own and divided it in colonies. The Spaniards were committed to convert their native subjects to Christianity and were quick to purge any native cultural practices that hindered this end; however, many initial attempts at this were only partially successful, as native groups simply blended Catholicism with their established beliefs and practices. Furthermore, the Spaniards brought their language to the degree they did with their religion, although the Roman Catholic Church's evangelization in Quechua, Aymara, and Guaraní actually contributed to the continuous use of these native languages albeit only in the oral form. Guyana was first a Dutch, and then a British colony, though there was a brief period during the Napoleonic Wars when it was colonized by the French. The country was once partitioned into three parts, each being controlled by one of the colonial powers until the country was finally taken over fully by the British. The first South American country to abolish slavery was Chile in 1823, Uruguay in 1830, Bolivia in 1831, Colombia and Ecuador in 1851, Argentina in 1853, Peru and Venezuela in 1854, Paraguay in 1869, and in 1888 Brazil was the last South American nation and the last country in western world to abolish slavery.