12 Maps Of America From Before We Knew What It Looked Like

image credit: Library of Congress

The island of California. A huge triangle of land called Florida. A great ocean that cut down from the Arctic into the Midwest. As the New World came into focus beginning in the 17th century, explorers and cartographers struggled to measure a massive expanse of land that would take centuries to accurately map.

Take a look at these 12 maps, which include the first to use the name 'America' and the first map printed in the new world.