The map I chose, which is titled 'Novissima et accuratissima totius Americae', is a map of both South and North America. It displays all of South America, as well as most of North America, the West being left out or incorrectly sketched. The first thing I notice about this map is that, as I have already stated, the West of North America is missing, yet South America is complete. This is evidence that the Spanish and Portugese were able to settle the lands very early and effectively, while the English, later Americans, were struggling to branch out and conquer.

While in this class, we have focused on English/American expansion, this evidence brings up a completely different fact. We know that there were natives all across the American continent in all places. Because the Spanish and Portugese have a broader expanse of land and were able to explore it faster, it shows that the Southern conquerers were far more racist and ruthless than the English/Americans were. They expanded faster because their philosophy behind 'divine right' was far stronger. The Spanish and Portugese swiftly came in and crushed the natives so they could utilize the land for their own good.

These atrocities may have been stopped if word had gotten back to Europe that such bad things were happening in the New World, but another piece on the map suggests why nothing was done.
In the bottom left-hand corner of the map, there is a drawn description of the map, and all around the description, which resides on a stone-ish plaque, there are natives. These natives are dressed in their traditional clothing and are depicted doing things that they would do in their daily lives. The problem with this is that when images like these went back to Europe, people thought that while the landscape was new and exotic, it was ruled by savage people who didn't look very 'normal' (in the European sense).

This is referenced in Valerie Babb's essay, when she says that, "a map could be an intellectual tool for legitimizing conquest, economic exploitation, and cultural imperialism." All of these became a possibility in the minds of all Europeans when they saw the images of what they thought to be an untamed wilderness occupied by a people who couldn't control or use it properly. From this notion, racism began to occur, and this is what Babb was trying to touch on in her essay. Through these maps, racism was easily attainable in a place that could easily be rocked by it.