1845 Radefeld Map of Mexico and the Republic of Texas

This is an 1845 Carl Radefeld map of Mexico and the Republic of Texas. Published on the eve of the Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848), Mexico stretches from Oregon to Guatemala, the border of the 1819 Adams-Onís Treaty. The Republic of Texas appears in one of its smallest border configurations, suggesting that the German cartographers were sympathetic to Mexico's arguments about Texas's rightful borders and not the more expansive borders advocated by Texans. Rivers are labeled throughout, including the Colorado, Nueces, and Rio Grande. Two mythical rivers, the Buenaventura and Francisco, are also identified, and two great salt lakes illustrated. San Antonio, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Mexico City, and Veracruz are named, along with numerous other cities and towns. Mexican states are labeled using Roman numerals corresponding with an index along the left border.

Republic of Texas

The Republic of Texas was a short-lived nation established in March of 1836 when it ceded from Mexico. Following the independence of Mexico from Spain, the American Stephen Fuller Austin led a group of 300 Empresarios to settle Texas, near Austin, where they received a grant from the Mexican government. As more Americans moved to Texas, resentment and strife began to build between the American settlers and Mexican authorities. This and other factors ultimately led to the Texan Revolution in 1835 and the declaration of Texan independence in 1836. Texas remained an independent republic until it joined the United States 10 years later in 1846.

Texas Borders

The borders of the Republic of Texas were in dispute from the earliest days of the Texan Revolution. The Republic-claimed borders followed the Treaties of Velasco between the newly created Texas Republic and Mexican leader, Antonio López de Santa Anna. The treaties established an eastern boundary following the 1819 Adams-Onís Treaty between the United States and Spain, which established the Sabine River as the eastern boundary of Spanish Texas and western boundary of the Missouri Territory. The Republic's southern and western boundary with Mexico was more nuanced. Texas claimed the Rio Grande del Norte as its western and southernmost border, while Mexico argued for a boundary much further east at the Nueces River. When Texas was annexed into the United States, the agreement followed the Republic claimed boundary, thus absorbing Mexican claimed territory as far west as Santa Fe. This escalated already existing tensions between the United States, the former Republic of Texas, and Mexico, ultimately triggering for the Mexican-American War (1846 -1848).

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Carl Radefeld and published by Joseph Meyer in his Grosser Hand-Atlas in 1845. We note a single cataloged example of the separate map in OCLC which is part of the collections at the University of Michigan. An example of the complete atlas is part of the David Rumsey Map Collection.