Representing the Republic provides an intriguing account of the mapping of America from its colonial origins to 1900. The most significant maps and mapmakers are discussed in a survey that begins with the first European mappings of New Netherlands in the early seventeenth century and concludes with the Rand McNally atlases of the 1890s.

Maps tell us a great deal about the transformation of America's national identity. Having undertaken extensive research in map collections, including work with rare archival materials, prominent geographer John Rennie Short provides an account of how maps have both embodied and reflected power, conflict and territorial expansion over time, opening a new perspective on North American history and geography.