1845 First Edition Joseph Meyer Map of Florida

This is a first edition 1845 Joseph Meyer map of Florida. Granted statehood on March 3, 1845, this map likely ranks among the first published maps of Florida as a state. Derived from maps by David Tanner, this map illustrates Florida early in its statehood during the Second Interbellum, a period of relative peace between the Second and Third Seminole Wars. Cities and counties throughout are labeled, along with both the Arredondo and Miranda land grants. In addition to Arredondo's famous large grant in central Florida, a secondary Arredondo holding is noted near modern day Fort Meyers. Tables along the top border chronicle four steamship routes, and another three are included along the bottom border. Inset maps in the lower left quadrant detail Saint Augustine, Tallahassee, and Pensacola.

Second Seminole War

Fought between 1835 and 1842, the Second Seminole War was a conflict between the United States Government and the various groups of American Indian groups known collectively as the Seminole. Focused primarily in peninsular Florida, the Second Seminole War was the most significant of the three Seminole Wars, and the longest Indian War in U.S. history.

The Seminole were a composite tribe formed from various southeastern American Indian tribes that were relocated to a large reservation in Central Florida. These included the Alabamas, Choctaw, Yamasees, Yuchis and Creek people, as well as escaped slaves.

In 1834 the United States government forced the Seminole to sign the Treat of Payne's Landing, which gave the tribe three years to move west of the Mississippi and join the Creek Tribe. The Seminole, rightly claiming unfair negotiations, renounced the treaty and, instead of moving west, entrenched themselves in the Florida swamps. The subsequent war proved long and bloody, with neither side gaining a solid advantage. Ultimately, the superior resources and numbers of the United States military proved decisive. Most of the Seminole were removed to the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) while the remaining Seminole in Florida removed to a large informal reservation located between Lake Okeechobee and Tampa.

The Second Interbellum (1842 - 1855)

The Second Interbellum is the name given to the period of time between the Second and Third Seminole Wars. During this era, the Seminole remaining in Florida (the rest had either been forcibly removed or bribed into moving to Indian Territory, modern-day Oklahoma) were assigned an unofficial reservation, occupying part of southwestern Florida here marked here by thin dashed lines. At the time it was estimated that 120 warriors, 100 women, and 140 children were all that remained of the once extensive Florida American Indian population. Although limited trade occurred, most American Indians then in Florida limited contact with white settlers. After a period of relative peace, a band of 'ousiders' (Seminole that chose not to live on the unofficial reservation) attacked a settlement. Two separate attacks in July 1849 increased tension, and the U.S. Army demanded the murderers be turned over. A year later, an orphaned boy was killed on his farm, supposedly by Indians. This killing drove the U.S. government to demand the deportation of all American Indians from Florida, a decree that led to the Third Seminole War.

Arredondo and Miranda Land Grants

Two land grants, Arredondo's Grant and Miranda's Grant, are holdovers from Spanish Florida. Beginning in the 1790s, the Spanish crown offered land grants to people courageous enough to emigrate to Florida or for meritorious service to the crown. Arredondo's grant, named after Fernando de la Maza Arredondo (c. 1760 - 18??), is located to the west of St. Augustine in Alachua county. It was granted to Arredondo in 1817 by Alexander Ramirez of Havana. Miranda's Grant, after Pedro Miranda, a Spanish sailor, is in the vicinity of modern-day Tampa. After Florida became a possession of the United States in 1821, these grants became a point of contention between the United States government and the grantees. Initially, the U.S. government declared that it would honor the grants as long as the owner could prove their legitimacy. Both Pedro Miranda and Fernando de la Maza Arredondo took their cases to the United States Supreme Court, where their rights to the land were affirmed. Eventually, nonetheless, both grants were dissolved by U.S. courts on the basis that they were not properly developed and therefore forfeited.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Joseph Meyer and published in the 1845 edition of his Meyer's Zeitung Atlas. Curiously, the publication information provided below the bottom border lists Heidelberg, Amsterdam, Paris, and Philadelphia as cities of publication, suggesting that Meyer had publishing agreements with atlas publishers in France, Holland, and the United States. Meyer published two editions of his atlas: the first in 1845 and a second in 1850. Examples are part of the Touchton Map Library at the Tampa Bay History Center and the David Rumsey Map Collection.