Jedidiah Morse Explains the Need for an American Geography

This issue includes a prospectus for what would become Jedidiah Morse's The American Geography, first published in 1789.

[JEDIDIAH MORSE]. The New-Haven Gazette, and the Connecticut Magazine, September 6, 1787. New Haven, CT: Josiah Meigs. 8 pp. (225-232), 8.75" x 10". Disbound; some separation on central fold; p7 trimmed at bottom with the loss of three lines (replaced by photocopy); light, scattered spots throughout.

Excerpts
"To the Friends of Science.
"It has long been the universal wish, that the public might be furnished with an accurate Geographical Grammar of the United States.
"Geographers of foreign countries not being possessed of proper materials, and not equally interested in this part of the subject, have filled their accounts of these states with numerous inaccuracies. It is time these inaccuracies were corrected. We are independent of Great Britain and no longer to look up to her for a description of our own country."

"no collective description of the whole has been attempted, except a small duodecimo volume, published by the subscriber in 1784, which, though imperfect on account of the infant state of geographical knowledge in America, was well received by a candid public, and an edition of 1500 copies speedily sold.
"This determined him to publish again on the same subject. For the purpose of collecting more ample and accurate materials than he formerly possessed, he has traveled through all the states, and been favoured with the communications of gentlemen well qualified to give information on so important a subject; and has likewise established a correspondence with several respectable characters in different states, from whom he has every reason to expect a valuable addition to the materials already collected...."

"N. B. The subscriber wishes to avail himself of the advantage of the most accurate maps, and detached geographical pieces, which have been published respecting the United States; and will thank any gentleman to inform him where these may be procured."
"JEDEDIAH MORSE." (p2/c3-p3/c1)

Historical Background
The first American geography, compiled by Congregationalist minister Jedediah Morse, is an important early American cartographical work. Its use in schools gave him the informal title of "father of American geography." It also played a role in increasing nationalism in the new country, as students in different locales began to view their area as part of a larger nation.

Additional Content
This issue also includes an extract from "An Essay on the Means of Promoting Federal Sentiments in the United States" by a foreign spectator (p1/c1-p2/c3); a report of a meeting of the Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts (p5/c1-2); and several notices and advertisements, including one noting that "The Subscriber's Hospital for Inoculation is now opened, where constant attendance is given" (p7/c1) and another offering a $10 reward for the return of two slaves who had run away from New York owners (p7/c1-2).

The New Haven Gazette, and the Connecticut Magazine (1784-1789) was a weekly newspaper in New Haven, Connecticut. It began as the New Haven Gazette, published by Josiah Meigs (1757-1822), Daniel Bowen, and Eleutheros Dana (1761-1788). In April 1786, Bowen left the partnership to publish the New Haven Chronicle. Dana left the partnership in August 1787, and Meigs continued to edit the newspaper alone.

Jedidiah Morse (1761-1826) was born in Connecticut and graduated from Yale College with a divinity degree in 1786. After serving as a Congregational minister in Georgia and Connecticut, he served as pastor in Charlestown, Massachusetts from 1789 to 1820. As a teacher, he recognized the need for a geography textbook, but his first effort Geography Made Easy (1784) was poor. He published the first edition of his American Geography in 1789. He sought the assistance of prominent leaders in revising his 1784 work and even contacted such luminaries as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. Through Chauncey Whittelsey, a tutor at Yale, Morse became acquainted with Governor William Livingston (1723-1790) of New Jersey, who aided Morse with his revision, and to whom Morse dedicated the 1789 edition. It was through Livingston's influence and connections that Morse was able to collect the necessary data for such a wide-ranging work. Morse issued several editions of this standard work and published his gazetteer as Universal Geography of the United States in 1797.

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