In September of 1861, the U.S. Coast Survey published a large map, approximately two feet by three feet, titled a "Map showing the distribution of the slave population of the southern states of the United States." Based on the population statistics gathered in the 1860 Census, and certified by the superintendent of the Census Office, the map depicted the percentage of the population enslaved in each county. At a glance, the viewer could see the large-scale patterns of the economic system that kept nearly 4 million people in bondage: slavery was concentrated along the Chesapeake Bay and in eastern Virginia; along the South Carolina and Georgia coasts; in a crescent of lands in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi; and most of all, in the Mississippi River Valley. With each county labeled with the exact percentage of people enslaved, the map demanded some closer examination.
The Coast Survey map of slavery was one of many maps drawn from data produced in 19th-century America. As historian Susan Schulten has shown, this particular map was created by a federal government agency from statistics gathered by the Census. Abraham Lincoln consulted it throughout the Civil War. A banner on the map proclaims that it was "sold for the benefit of the Sick and Wounded Soldiers of the U.S. Army." The data map was an instrument of government, as well as a new technology for representing knowledge.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/maps-reveal-slavery-expanded-across-united-states-180951452/#LkDmsFh12EPzft7U.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter
In September of 1861, the U.S. Coast Survey published a large map,
approximately two feet by three feet, titled a "Map showing the
distribution of the slave population of the southern states of the
United States." Based on the population statistics gathered in the 1860
Census, and certified by the superintendent of the Census Office, the
map depicted the percentage of the population enslaved in each county.
At a glance, the viewer could see the large-scale patterns of the
economic system that kept nearly 4 million people in bondage: slavery
was concentrated along the Chesapeake Bay and in eastern Virginia; along
the South Carolina and Georgia coasts; in a crescent of lands
in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi; and most of all, in the
Mississippi River Valley. With each county labeled with the exact
percentage of people enslaved, the map demanded some closer examination.
The Coast Survey map of slavery was one of many maps drawn from
data produced in 19th-century America. As historian Susan Schulten has shown,
this particular map was created by a federal government agency from
statistics gathered by the Census. Abraham Lincoln consulted it
throughout the Civil War. A banner on the map proclaims that it was
"sold for the benefit of the Sick and Wounded Soldiers of the U.S.
Army." The data map was an instrument of government, as well as a new
technology for representing knowledge.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/maps-reveal-slavery-expanded-across-united-states-180951452/#LkDmsFh12EPzft7U.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter
approximately two feet by three feet, titled a "Map showing the
distribution of the slave population of the southern states of the
United States." Based on the population statistics gathered in the 1860
Census, and certified by the superintendent of the Census Office, the
map depicted the percentage of the population enslaved in each county.
At a glance, the viewer could see the large-scale patterns of the
economic system that kept nearly 4 million people in bondage: slavery
was concentrated along the Chesapeake Bay and in eastern Virginia; along
the South Carolina and Georgia coasts; in a crescent of lands
in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi; and most of all, in the
Mississippi River Valley. With each county labeled with the exact
percentage of people enslaved, the map demanded some closer examination.
data produced in 19th-century America. As historian Susan Schulten has shown,
this particular map was created by a federal government agency from
statistics gathered by the Census. Abraham Lincoln consulted it
throughout the Civil War. A banner on the map proclaims that it was
"sold for the benefit of the Sick and Wounded Soldiers of the U.S.
Army." The data map was an instrument of government, as well as a new
technology for representing knowledge.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/maps-reveal-slavery-expanded-across-united-states-180951452/#LkDmsFh12EPzft7U.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter
In September of 1861, the U.S. Coast Survey published a large map,
approximately two feet by three feet, titled a "Map showing the
distribution of the slave population of the southern states of the
United States." Based on the population statistics gathered in the 1860
Census, and certified by the superintendent of the Census Office, the
map depicted the percentage of the population enslaved in each county.
At a glance, the viewer could see the large-scale patterns of the
economic system that kept nearly 4 million people in bondage: slavery
was concentrated along the Chesapeake Bay and in eastern Virginia; along
the South Carolina and Georgia coasts; in a crescent of lands
in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi; and most of all, in the
Mississippi River Valley. With each county labeled with the exact
percentage of people enslaved, the map demanded some closer examination.
The Coast Survey map of slavery was one of many maps drawn from
data produced in 19th-century America. As historian Susan Schulten has shown,
this particular map was created by a federal government agency from
statistics gathered by the Census. Abraham Lincoln consulted it
throughout the Civil War. A banner on the map proclaims that it was
"sold for the benefit of the Sick and Wounded Soldiers of the U.S.
Army." The data map was an instrument of government, as well as a new
technology for representing knowledge.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/maps-reveal-slavery-expanded-across-united-states-180951452/#LkDmsFh12EPzft7U.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter
approximately two feet by three feet, titled a "Map showing the
distribution of the slave population of the southern states of the
United States." Based on the population statistics gathered in the 1860
Census, and certified by the superintendent of the Census Office, the
map depicted the percentage of the population enslaved in each county.
At a glance, the viewer could see the large-scale patterns of the
economic system that kept nearly 4 million people in bondage: slavery
was concentrated along the Chesapeake Bay and in eastern Virginia; along
the South Carolina and Georgia coasts; in a crescent of lands
in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi; and most of all, in the
Mississippi River Valley. With each county labeled with the exact
percentage of people enslaved, the map demanded some closer examination.
data produced in 19th-century America. As historian Susan Schulten has shown,
this particular map was created by a federal government agency from
statistics gathered by the Census. Abraham Lincoln consulted it
throughout the Civil War. A banner on the map proclaims that it was
"sold for the benefit of the Sick and Wounded Soldiers of the U.S.
Army." The data map was an instrument of government, as well as a new
technology for representing knowledge.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/maps-reveal-slavery-expanded-across-united-states-180951452/#LkDmsFh12EPzft7U.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter
Comments