Three Approaches to the United States
- Title:
- Three Approaches to the United States
- Alternate Title:
- Three Approaches to the United States
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Harrison, Richard Edes
- Date:
- 1940
- Posted Date:
- 2017-04-14
- ID Number:
- 1290.01
- Collection Number:
- 8548
- File Name:
- PJM_1290_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1940 - 1959
- Subject:
- World War II
Unusual Projection - Measurement:
- 36 x 29 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This famous set of three maps by Richard Edes Harrison appeared more than a year before Pearl Harbor, but at a time when Germany had captured most of Western Europe and the Battle of Britain had begun. Henry Luce, the publisher of Time, Life and Fortune magazines, was the most powerful American media figure of his era, and his concern about American isolationism and our lack of military preparedness was increasingly reflected in his publications. Baughman 2001, 2-3, 120. These maps illustrate an extensive article about the readiness of US military forces, captioned "Our line of minimum physical security stretches from Alaska to the Galapagos, from Greenland to the Amazon Valley. Have we the 'with what' to hold it?”
Harrison presents three different vulnerabilities: to a German attack over the Pole, through Canada; to a Japanese attack from the Northern Pacific (the point from which the Pearl Harbor raid was launched); and to an attack on the East Coast from South America. In each case, his map looks down on the earth from a different point and direction. And by presenting the three views on a single page, Harrison powerfully conveys the scale of the nation's potential exposure. The extensive text emphasizes the point; for example, it notes “a transportation system that could put a fully equipped army of half a million men into Seattle in a matter of days - if we had the army.”
There is an interesting similarity between this map and a 1943 Japanese map illustrating "6 Routes to Invade the Mainland US" that might be taken by hostile forces, three by Germany and three by Japan (ID #2538).
Richard Edes Harrison was an American artist whose remarkably innovative maps during World War II and thereafter helped Americans better understand the shrinking world in which they lived. "His techniques defied convention and created a new standard for the look and shape of the world on a map. Harrison designed the maps to be both visually appealing and politically charged, reflecting the urgency of the war while also maintaining an elegant artistic dimension." Schulten 1998, 174. He had been trained in architecture and design rather than as a cartographer, and that background "enabled him to break from convention." Ibid. 175. The collection includes a number of Harrison's maps, mostly from this period; for another excellent example, see ID #1297, ID #2130, The World Divided (1941).
For an earlier map in Fortune Magazine advocating greater preparedness by illustrating alternative attack threats, see ID #2068, Appleton, The Great Invasion of 19?? A Jingo's View, Based on Some Potent Realities (1935).
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- Fortune Magazine, September 1940, page 58.
- Cite As:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography, #8548. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.