Mexico. Compliments of The Travelers Insurance Company, Hartford, Conn.
- Title:
- Mexico. Compliments of The Travelers Insurance Company, Hartford, Conn.
- Alternate Title:
- Mexico. Compliments of The Travelers Insurance Company
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Rand McNally & Co.; Travelers Insurance Company
- Date:
- 1914
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2392.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2392_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1900 - 1919
- Subject:
- Advertising & Promotion
Money & Finance
Other War & Peace
Politics & Government - Measurement:
- 34 x 48 on sheet 39 x 55 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This map was probably intended to reassure those with assets in Mexico insured by the Travelers Insurance Company that they would be protected notwithstanding the turmoil of the Mexican Revolution.
The Revolution began in 1910 and broke into civil war the following year when the dictator Porfirio Diaz - who had encouraged foreign investment - was driven from office after 30 years. For most of the following decade, violence and bloodshed raged among a number of warring factions, many identified on this map. Some of the competing forces favored more moderate change, led by the wealthy landowner Venustiano Carranza, “first chief” of the “Constitutionalists,” who eventually became the first President of the Mexican Republic. Others were led by dramatic, popular revolutionaries whose names resonate today, including Pancho Villa (“Jose” on the map), Emiliano Zapata, and Pascual Orozco (simply “Pascual” on the map). Several lesser forces are also shown, including those led by Tomas Urbina, affiliated with Villa, and Manuel Vega (“Vegas” on the map), affiliated with Zapata.
Given the number of competing forces and their shifting alliances, as well as the general chaos and anarchy in large parts of the country, Travelers produced this 1913 Rand McNally map overprinted with useful information. “The chief centers of rebellion and names of leaders [are] shown in heavy [red] type.” Symbols locate U.S. “Consulates” and “Forts” along the border, as well as the “Principal Garrisons of Federal-Mexican troops in the North.” Against the possibility that neither the U.S. Forts or the Federal-Mexican troops could protect all the insured assets in the rebellious nation, Travelers also overprinted its fundamental financial condition in black at the foot of the map. The company’s capital and surplus of $10.7 million in 1913 was equivalent to about $270 million today.
Although the map has a copyright date of 1913, the overprinted version was likely produced in 1914 because the financial data for the company at the foot of the map are those reported as of December 31, 1913. Year Book for the Fiftieth Year of The Travelers Insurance Company, 1914, p.9. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433075946479;view=1up;seq=405, accessed February 2, 2019.
For other overprinted maps in the collection using the same technique, Search > "Repurposed."
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.