‘Red Lines on Maps’ Revisited: The Role of Maps in Negotiating and Defending the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty

Abstract

ABSTRACT Daniel Webster said it was knowledge of the Sparks and Steuben maps (both apparently confirming British border claims) that brought the state of Maine to concur in his 1842 treaty settlement with Lord Ashburton. His statement is well known, but most historians have felt inhibited by lack of evidence from examining the way in which Webster used the maps in the negotiation and from assessing the true extent (and limits) of their influence. Using a wider range of sources, the present article seeks to remedy this lacuna through detailed analysis of the sequence of negotiation. It discusses the ‘Battle of the Maps’ that followed the revelation of their importance in securing the treaty's conclusion, the 1843 search in the Paris archives to which this impelled the British government, and the unearthing (in the Foreign Office) of the King George Map that enabled Sir Robert Peel to destroy Lord Palmerston's attack and conclude the controversy. The article also illustrates the propensity of participants to explain points by dashing off sketch maps, and it adds to the uncertainty as to the precise source from which Jared Sparks copied his ‘red line’ onto the map of Maine.