Descripçion de las Indias del Norte

Plate 2 from the second edition of Herrera y Tordesillas', "Description des Indes Occidentales. "Many historians believe that one reason the continental interior of this map was left blank was because the Spanish government did not wish the geographical information supplied by early explorers and locations of their fortifications and settlements in thew New World to become known to foreign rivals. Other scholars believe that because Spain did not encourage colonization and trade in the New World at the time this map was published, there was no audience for a map delineating more than the barest amount of information. European mapmakers often depicted the New World as a virtually empty continent, thus perpetuating the myth of an empty frontier and ignoring the existence of indigenous peoples. The cartographers' actions thus encouraged a culture of conquest by using maps as instruments to seize Indian land.