Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Jefferson's Midwest

There's lots of good work being done over at Strange Maps, none of it better than the discussion of this creative map of Jefferson's proposed midwestern states. According to one biography,
[W]e have a glimpse of that absurd element in Jefferson's mind which his admirers sought to excuse by calling him a "philosopher." The matter is small, to be sure, but suggestive. He proposed as named for the several subdivisions of this territory: Sylvania, Michigania, Cherronesus, Assenisippia, Metropotamia, and Pelisipia. Fortunately these wondrous classic titles have not afflicted the children of our common schools.
Assenisippia: The Easy Target State

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