By the time of the Revolutionary War, the practice of awarding bounty land as an inducement for enlisting in the military had been a long-standing practice in colonial North America. Besides imperial bounty land grants, both colonial and municipal governments routinely compensated participants in and victims of military conflicts with land. Land was a commodity in generous supply, and governments seized upon its availability for accomplishing their goals.

Following this tradition, the Revolutionary governments used bounty land grants in their struggle for independence from Great Britain. They generally offered free lands in exchange for military service, provided they were victorious in their struggle. Thus, bounty lands were an effective technique for enrolling support for the war and encouraging re-enlistments. Generally the bounty lands were located on the western frontier, which provided another benefit to the government. Populating the frontier with citizens skilled in defense offered the best prospect in enticing other settlers to join them, thus eventually increasing the tax rolls.

An uncommon and information-packed map describing the area from Maine (Province of Main), south to Virginia. Lesser detail extends west to the Great Lakes and the confluence of the Ohio and Mississipi Rivers, and north to eastern Canada up to James Bay. There are several Bounty Land Grants including Genl Clarks, Donation Lands from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and Ohio Company in Ohio, and Wabash Company, New Jersey Company, and Illinois Company in Illinois. This is the first edition, with information taken from Amos Doolittle's map of the same title. Engraved by G. Allen Sanders, Wells Row, Islington.

References: McCorkle # 792.1; Kershaw #388.

Condition: A

Superb impression on a fine, wide margined sheet. There is one small tiny wormhole in the upper margin, and one in the lower left border.