Northern Expansion

I've seen plenty of map like this one, showing some ridiculous looking westward claims of US states and colonies before that.

via Library of Congress

If ridiculous seems like a strong word, just look at that South Carolina panhandle! What I've never seen before is this circa 1754 map showing some huge land claims to the north.

Sidney R. Knafel Map Collection/Leventhal Center

There is not much information about this map other than a simple title "An accurate map of the English colonies in North America, bordering on the river Ohio", and that it appeared in the Universal magazine of knowledge and pleasure. It's interesting to see New Jersey and Pennsylvania grabbing land in upstate New York, Maryland claiming much of Ohio, and Virginia reaching up towards Michigan. In some ways this makes sense given the north-northwesterly flows of the major rivers these colonies formed along, the Hudson, Delaware and Potomac.

I don't know anything else about this map or these claims but it's always interesting to see a different perspective on history.