Virginia Mapmaker Did Not Place Asia Across from Virginia

The premise is based on a misunderstanding of early colonial cartography. No serious 17th-century Virginia mapmaker believed the "Sea of China and Indies" lay just beyond the Blue Ridge.

The Reality

• John Smith's 1612 Map (the seminal Virginia map) shows the Chesapeake, rivers, and tribal territories. The western edge is marked "Unknown" or "Mountaines"—not Asia.
• Contemporary World Maps (Hondius, Speed, Blaeu) clearly place the "Sea of China" and "East Indies" across the Pacific, thousands of miles west.
• Explorers Knew Better: Spanish presence in Mexico/Philippines, Drake's circumnavigation (1577–80), and Jesuit reports confirmed the Pacific's vast width.

Why the Myth Persists

• Early hopeful speculation by promoters (e.g., Hakluyt) suggested a narrow continent.
• Misreading of notations like "Mar de China" on small-scale world maps placed near America for engraving convenience.
• Later 19th-century histories exaggerated colonial ignorance for narrative effect.

By the 1670s, Lederer's and Batts & Fallam's expeditions confirmed the Mississippi watershed—no Pacific shortcut existed.