No one seems to regret that Thomas Jefferson’s plan for the division of the Northwest Territory into ten new states was shelved. The proposed names were just too silly, writes 19th-century Jefferson-biographer John T. Morse, Jr.:
“The names suggested for these ten States are a peculiar mixture of Latin and Indian, and while a semblance of some of the names still remains in two cases, in all others it is so absolutely forgotten that the very fact has ceased to be known by many close students of American history. Yet, besides this humane and noble piece of statesmanship (the proposed prohibition of slavery in the territory) we 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 names for the several subdivisions of this territory: Sylvania, Michigania, Cheronesus, Assenisippis, Metropotamia, Illinoia, Saratoga, Washington, Polypotamia, and Pelipsia.”
In 1787, the fledgling new republic for the first time expanded beyond the borders of the original 13 states. The area between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers was annexed via the Northwest Ordinance, which also resolved long-simmering rivalries between the original states, most of which had claims to territories out west, by creating new states rather than expanding existing ones.
It did take a while before the states as we now know them took shape. Statehood in the Northwest Territory was gained consecutively by Ohio (1803), Indiana (1816), Illinois (1818), Michigan (1837), Wisconsin (1848) and finally Minnesota (1858).
All of which might not have come to pass if the committee, chaired by Thomas Jefferson in 1784, had gotten its way. This committee proposed to divide the Northwest Territory into 10 states of roughly equal size, and even had names ready for them. Names with an antique ring to them, possibly to lend a bit of credibility to the then still precarious business of westward expansion.
• Sylvania would have covered much of present-day Minnesota, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and some of northern Wisconsin. • Michigania would have incorporated most of Wisconsin, but nothing of Michigan. • Most of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula would have been the state of Chersonesus, which is simply the Greek word for ‘peninsula’. • The northern part of modern-day Illinois would have been the state of Assenispia, after the Assenisipi River, also known as the Rock River. • In between Assenispia and Pennsylvania would be the state of Metropotamia, a name referring to the many rivers originating there. • The states of Illinoia, Saratoga and Washington would have incorporated large parts of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio respectively. • Polypotamia (‘Land of Many Rivers’) and Pelisipia would have covered the western and eastern parts of Kentucky, mainly (and therefore are partially outside the Northwest Territory, as it is bounded to the south by the Ohio River, Kentucky’s northern border).
There is some disagreement as to the spelling of some of the states (Chersonesus is sometimes spelled Cherronesus or Cheronesus, Assenispia is sometimes rendered as Assenisippis or Assenisippia) and even on the number of proposed states, with some saying Jefferson had 17 new states in mind (although only 10 are named in his proposal).
Adding to the confusion is the unclear status of the territory south of the Northwest Territory (nowadays the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi), contested between the Spanish, the US and several states with individual claims.
Jordan Penny, who was kind enough to make and provide this map of the ‘Jeffersonian’ Midwest, populates the area south of Kentucky with the states of Equitasia (western Tennessee) and Jefferson (eastern Tennessee), and has three states where there now are two: a more narrow Alabama, a state of Adams in the southern part of Mississippi, which in this version covers only its northern part.
Strange Maps #248
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Hakuna mtu anayeonekana kujuta kwamba mpango wa Thomas Jefferson wa kugawanya Wilaya ya Kaskazini-Magharibi katika majimbo kumi mapya ulifutwa. "Jefferson, mwandishi wa karne ya 19 John T. Morse Jr. aliandika: ""Jina la Marekani ni mchanganyiko wa lugha ya Kilatini na Kihindi, na wakati baadhi ya majina bado yanaonekana katika kesi mbili, katika nyingine zote ni hivyo kabisa kusahaulika kwamba ukweli wenyewe umeacha kuwa unajulikana na wanafunzi wengi wa karibu wa historia ya Marekani." Hata hivyo, mbali na kipande hiki cha kibinadamu na cha kifalme cha siasa (marufuku iliyopendekezwa ya utumwa katika eneo hilo) tuna mtazamo wa kipengele hicho kisicho na maana katika akili ya Jefferson ambacho mashabiki wake walitafuta kusamehe kwa kumwita "falsafa". Jambo hilo ni dogo, bila shaka, lakini linaonyesha jambo fulani. "Mwaka 1787 jamhuri hiyo mpya ilipanuka kwa mara ya kwanza zaidi ya mipaka ya majimbo 13 ya awali.""" Eneo kati ya Maziwa Makuu na Mito ya Mississippi na Ohio lilijumuishwa kupitia Amri ya Kaskazini Magharibi, ambayo pia ilisuluhisha ushindani wa muda mrefu kati ya majimbo ya awali, ambayo mengi yalikuwa na madai ya maeneo magharibi, kwa kuunda majimbo mapya badala ya kupanua yale yaliyopo. Ilichukua muda kabla ya majimbo kama tunavyoyajua sasa kuunda umbo. Jimbo la Ohio lilitengenezwa mwaka wa 1816, Indiana mwaka wa 1816, Illinois mwaka wa 1818, Michigan mwaka wa 1837, Wisconsin mwaka wa 1848 na Minnesota mwaka wa 1858. "Hata hivyo, ""hakukuwa na uwezekano wa kufanya hivyo kama kamati iliyoongozwa na Thomas Jefferson katika 1784 ingekuwa imepata njia yake.""" Kamati hiyo ilipendekeza kugawanya eneo la kaskazini magharibi katika majimbo kumi yenye ukubwa sawa, na hata ilikuwa na majina tayari kwa ajili yao. Majina yenye sauti ya kale, labda ili kutoa uaminifu kidogo kwa biashara iliyokuwa bado isiyo na uhakika ya kupanuka kuelekea magharibi. • Sylvania ingekuwa imefunika sehemu kubwa ya Minnesota ya leo, Peninsula ya Juu ya Michigan na sehemu fulani ya kaskazini mwa Wisconsin. • Michigania ingekuwa imeunganisha sehemu kubwa ya Wisconsin, lakini hakuna chochote cha Michigan. • Sehemu kubwa ya Peninsula ya Chini ya Michigan ingekuwa jimbo la Chersonesus, ambalo ni neno la Kigiriki tu kwa <unk> peninsula <unk>. "Kuna eneo la kaskazini la Illinois ambalo linaitwa ""Aspenispi"" kwa jina la Mto Aspenispi, ambao pia unaitwa ""Mto Rock.""" • Kati ya Assenispia na Pennsylvania kungekuwa na jimbo la Metropotamia, jina linalorejezea mito mingi inayotokana huko. Jimbo la Illinois, Saratoga na Washington pia ni sehemu ya jimbo la Ohio. Polypotamia (Nchi ya Mito Mengi) na Pelisipia ingekuwa imefunika sehemu za magharibi na mashariki za Kentucky, hasa (na kwa hivyo ni sehemu nje ya Wilaya ya Kaskazini Magharibi, kwani imepunguzwa kusini na Mto Ohio, mpaka wa kaskazini wa Kentucky). "Hakuna makubaliano juu ya jinsi ya kuandika baadhi ya majimbo (Kersonesus wakati mwingine huandikwa ""Kersonesus"" au ""Kersonesus,"" na Assenispis wakati mwingine huandikwa ""Assenispis"" au ""Assenispis""), na hata juu ya idadi ya majimbo yaliyopendekezwa, na wengine wanasema Jefferson alikuwa na majimbo 17 mapya akilini (ingawa ni 10 tu yaliyotajwa katika pendekezo lake)." Kwa kuongezea mvurugo, hali isiyo wazi ya eneo la kusini mwa Wilaya ya Kaskazini Magharibi (siku hizi majimbo ya Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama na Mississippi), inashindana kati ya Uhispania, Marekani na majimbo kadhaa na madai ya mtu binafsi. "Penny Jordan, ambaye alikuwa na fadhili ya kutengeneza na kutoa ramani hii ya ""Jefferson"" Midwest, anaishi eneo la kusini mwa Kentucky na majimbo ya Equitasia (magharibi mwa Tennessee) na Jefferson (mashariki mwa Tennessee), na ana majimbo matatu ambapo sasa kuna mawili: Alabama nyembamba zaidi, jimbo la Adams katika sehemu ya kusini ya Mississippi, ambayo katika toleo hili inashughulikia sehemu yake ya kaskazini tu. """ Strange Map #248 - Ukiwa na map ya ajabu, Tafadhali niambie kwa [email protected].