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Prior to the Revolutionary War, most maps of the American colonies were published in England. Following the conclusion of hostilities, recognition of the United States as an independent Nation stimulated demands for new and up-to-date maps. In 1784, Abel Buell, a Connecticut gold- and silversmith, engraver, and jeweler (and convicted counterfeiter) published the first map of the new United States produced by an American: "A New and correct Map of the United States of North America Layd down from the latest Observations and best Authorities agreeable to the Peace of 1783." Like most of his fellow contemporary cartographers, Buell borrowed heavily from existing maps to compile his large (43 x 48 inch) wall map, which shows the United States immediately prior to the writing and ratification of the Constitution. The original image was engraved on copper plates and was printed in four sections. All coloring on the map was applied by hand using water colors.
The copy of the second edition of the Buell map which is reproduced from the collection of the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark.
The oldest extant picture that resembles a map was created in the late 7th millennium BC in Anatolia, modern Turkey. This wall painting represents a plan of an early urban area that prospered from trading obsidian.
Whoever visualized the that 'mental map' may have been encouraged by the fact that houses in Anatolia were clustered together and were entered via flat roofs. Therefore, it was normal for the inhabitants to view their city from a bird's eye view. Later civilizations followed the same convention; today, almost all maps are drawn as if we are looking down from the sky instead of from a horizontal or oblique perspective. There are exceptions: one of the ‘quasi-maps' of the Minoan civilization on Crete, the "House of the Admiral" wall painting dating from c. 1600 BC, shows a seaside community in an oblique perspective.
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