An empire on paper: Cartography, geography, and the founding of Halifax, 1744--1755

Founding Halifax was a watershed in British imperial policy, as the colony was established for imperial, not commercial, imperatives. Maps and geographic knowledge were essential to Halifax's success, but neither provided a simple representation of colonial geography. Cartographic knowledge was shaped by cultural, political, and economic realities that influenced imperial surveyors, like Charles Morris, and public mapmakers, like Thomas Jefferys.;From 1744 to 1755, cartographic and geographic perceptions of Halifax in London, Boston, and Halifax were divided among and between the officials and the public. A "geography of geographic knowledge" developed in which the availability and use of cartographic materials ebbed and flowed depending on time, location, and status. The knowledge gap between local and imperial officials developed, widened, and was resolved over time, but the public never shared a common cartographic understanding of Halifax. Maps of Halifax influenced, and were influenced by, imperial authority and public perception.