About the Presenter
Timothy C. Hemmis is an Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University- Central Texas in Killeen. His latest book project, A Man Caught In Between: Mapping, Espionage, and the Life of the Geographer of the United States, Thomas Hutchins, 1730-1790, examines the overlooked role of Thomas Hutchins in the creation of the United States, using his life as a case study of how American identity evolved throughout the Revolutionary Era. His maps and writings inspired the concept of American Manifest Destiny and westward expansion long before it became a buzzword in the mid-nineteenth century. During the War for Independence, geographers like Hutchins provided an indispensable service to the military and to the government. Moreover, Hutchins was one of the highest-ranking British officers to defect to the American side. After the war, he served as a cartographer for the young republic, organizing he survey system for the Old Northwest Territory (present-day Ohio) and helping resolve boundary disputes between states. Additionally, Hutchins also proposed an expedition to the Pacific Ocean two decades before the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition. Ultimately, Hutchins’s many activities helped boost America’s appetite for the west and territorial expansion that became part of the young republic’s identity.
Recipient of the Society of Colonial Wars Fellowship