The 1855 Project
The world of the Pax Britannica
The images used herein are taken from Mitchell's Universal Atlas (Philadelphia: Thomas Copperthwait & Company, 1855). I believe them to be in the public domain.
| The world of 1855 | |
| North America | The Russians hold Alaska |
| Canada East | Formerly Lower Canada; the future Quebec |
| Canada West | Formerly Upper Canada; the future Ontario; needs rescanning |
| United States of America | Franklin Pierce became president on March 4, 1853 |
| Eastern United States | |
| Western United States | |
| Maine | needs rescanning |
| New Hampshire and Vermont | |
| Massachusetts and Rhode Island | Back Bay Station will be built where the Boston & Providence and Boston & Worcester Railroads cross in Back Bay |
| Connecticut | |
| New York | |
| New Jersey | |
| Pennsylvania | |
| Maryland and Delaware | |
| Washington, D.C. | |
| Virginia | Includes the future State of West Virginia |
| North Carolina | |
| South Carolina | |
| Georgia | The capital is Milledgeville |
| Florida | |
| Alabama | |
| Mississippi | |
| Louisiana | |
| Texas | needs rescanning |
| Arkansas | |
| Missouri | |
| Tennessee | |
| Kentucky | |
| Ohio | What's round on the ends and high in the middle? |
| Indiana | |
| Illinois | |
| Iowa | |
| Wisconsin | |
| Michigan | |
| Minnesota | The future States of Minnesota and North and South Dakota |
| The West | The state of California and the western territories |
| Mexico and Central America | This map predates the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 |
| The West Indies | |
| South America | |
| Venezuela, New Granada, and Equador | New Granada will become known as Colombia |
| Brazil | The Empire of Brazil, ruled by Dom Pedro II |
| Peru and Bolivia | |
| Chile, La Plata, and Uruguay | La Plata will some day be called Argentina |
| Europe | |
| England and Wales | Queen Victoria will reign until 1901; needs rescanning |
| Scotland | |
| Ireland | |
| France | On December 2, 1852, President Louis Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor Napoleon III |
| Holland and Belgium | The realms of Kings Wiliam III and Leopold I, respectively |
| Germany | "Von der Maas bis an die Memel; von der Etsch bis an den Belt", a loose confederation of independent states under the nominal presidency of the Emperor of Austria |
| Prussia | Smallest but not weakest of the great powers of Europe, under King Friedrich Wilhelm IV |
| Austria | Emperor Franz Joseph will sit on the throne until 1916 |
| Russia in Europe | Emperor Nicholas I is also King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland |
| Italy | A group of states under various rulers, among them Pope Pius IX, occupies the Italian peninsula |
| Sardinia | The nucleus of the future Kingdom of Italy, ruled by King Victor Emmanuel II |
| Naples, or The Two Sicilies | The domain of King Ferdinand II |
| Spain and Portugal | Ruled by Queen Isabella II and Ferdinand, regent for King Pedro V, respectively |
| Switzerland | A republic! How scandalous. |
| Sweden and Norway | Two kingdoms under one king (Oscar I) |
| Turkey in Europe | The Ottoman Empire under Sultan Abdul Mejid I |
| Asia | |
| Turkey in Asia | The Asian provinces of the Ottoman Empire; needs rescanning |
| Palestine | Showing the territories of various Biblical tribes |
| Persian, Arabia, etc. | Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Baluchistan |
| Hindustan | Ruled by the British East India Company |
| Russia in Asia and Tartary | Sakhalin and Primorye belong to China; Jedo (Edo) is the capital of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate; it will become Tokyo in 1868 |
| China | Qing Dynasty China has suzerainty over Korea |
| Africa | Lake Victoria and the Congo River have yet to be discovered |
| Egypt | Part of the Ottoman Empire, like Tripoli and Tunis to the west |
| Oceanica | Australia and the Pacific islands |
