Reading the map

Imagine you'd lived all your life in a tiny village, far from world affairs, just trying to keep your head above water and feed your family. Then, what if there was a revolution in your country that failed, whether or not you were involved, and things got even worse??

You know friends and neighbors are leaving in droves for "Amerika", and you decide to go, too.
It can't be any worse than this...

You'd need a map like the one Larry found this morning:

(BTW, it says, in the Ocean there, that the distances are far greater than they look.)

I translated what it says in the lower left corner. It's more or less:

"Emigrant's map and guide to North America, for the European traveller, the routes of ships on the sea, the States in North America, the country(land) and water routes of the rivers to the inside of America, the principal places in America where Germans have settled, and the prices of transportation given in Rhenish guilder and in Thaler prices easily understood by Emmigrant craftsmen and farmers".

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"This (1853) map by Gotthelf Zimmermann reflects the importance of German immigration to North America in the mid-19th century. When the Revolution of 1848 failed to produce desired reforms within the German confederation, droves of disillusioned Germans turned their sights abroad. Maps such as this helped show them the way. At the time, land in the United States was cheap, fertile, and plentiful, making it an ideal choice for immigrants eager to establish new settlements and to begin new lives. German communities in the United States became so prevalent that on the eve of World War I, some six percent of American children spoke only German in primary school..." From this page: WORLD DIGITAL LIBRARY