Ben Franklin's World is a production of the

Omaha Institute and production of this episode was made possible by a

grant from the Roll of Baltimore Foundation of Richmond, Virginia. Hello and welcome to episode 256 of Ben Franklin's world the podcast dedicated to helping you learn more about how the people

and events of our early American past have shaped the present day world we live in.

And I'm your host, Liz Kovart.

Have you ever wondered about empires and how they come to be?

Have you ever thought about how empires are made and who makes them?

Early America was full of empires.

So if you've thought about empires,

where they came from and who makes them,

you're in good company.

Because these are questions in areas of research that interest many historians of early America,

including historians like Christian Coate, a professor of history at Towson University.

Now, to find answers to these questions about Empire, how they're made and who makes them,

Christian has researched and written two books about the Anglo-Dutch world of the 17th century.

And during the course of his investigations, Christian wondered about the role

maps have played in making empires. So today, he joins us to take us through his

research into what one specific map,

Augustine-Raman's 1673 map, Virginia, Maryland,

and what Raman's map reveals about empire and empire-making.

Now, using details from his book, a biography of a map in motion, Augustine

Hermann's Chesapeake, Christian reveals. Information about a merchant

...