The Message Behind Slave Populations in the South: 1860 U.S. Map Showing the Distribution of Slave Populations in the South

In the year 1860, America was in the midst of a war with itself. The altercation in our country revolved around slavery. The North was against the enslaving of blacks, and the South was dependent on the institution of slavery for its agricultural economy. This map is so fascinating because it had a major effect on the dispute of slavery in our country. To summarize the map, it shows the percentages of slaves in each county of the south in relation to all the inhabitants of that county. For example, in Henrico County, Virginia  34.5% of the people living there at the time were slaves. At the center bottom of the map, there is a chart showing free populations of each state,  and the slave populations of each state. The map is also color coded according to the percentages of slaves in each county. The higher the percentage of slaves in a county, the darker shaded the county is. This makes areas with high populations of slaves easily distinguishable.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) office of Coast Survey, this map was put into circulation by the government but was created by cartographers working for  Edwin Hergesheimer, of the U.S. Coast Survey Drafting Division. The NOAA office of Coast Survey also declares that this map was a pioneer for other maps because of its use of shading techniques to show percentages, and  it was one of the first maps to involve statistical data. Besides this map being the first of it’s kind, there is also implicit messages  behind it. The cartographers, by using  statistics pulled  from the 8th census,  wanted to shift our country’s focus towards slavery, framing the South as a region highly concentrated by enslaved peoples. People looking at this map could visualize where high slave populations were located in our country for the first time, whereas before this map was produced, slavery wasn’t able to be geospatially imagined by outsiders. From this we can assume that  the mapmakers created this map with the intent to trigger a rebellion against slavery in our country. Once people saw the map, they instantly formed an opinion about slavery. Most viewers of the map would naturally relate the percentages on the map to being a problem, but the map also subtlety implies this by it’s shading. The map creators purposely shaded areas of higher slave populations darker, while areas with lower slave populations lighter. This expresses the evil in the South by making counties look dark and dangerous. The shading creates a “bad guy” persona of the south for spectators.

Cartographers of this map also purposely selected to only display the South. Northern states had slaves too, but just displaying the concentration in the South adds more fire to the rebellion against slavery and the confederacy.  The top of the Map says “Sold for the Benefit of the Sick and Wounded U.S. Soldiers, ” suggesting that this map was being sold to make money for the Union army who was fighting the confederacy. This confirms and explains why it was created to rally against the south and fight to abolish slavery. This map certainly did have an affect on the war too. The NOAA Coast Survey and many other legitimate sources claim Abraham Lincoln was very fond of this map. The Coast Survey states directly that he used the map to  consider the relationship between emancipation and military strategy.

In conclusion, this pioneering map representing the distribution of slaves in the south, implicitly sparks a feeling of rebellion against slavery in the south to benefit the U.S. Army. This map deserves to be the map of the week because of it’s importance in our country’s history. It was a stepping stone to a war against the South, making it a prime example of the power  maps can hold. Without this map where would our country be?

 

“Mapping Slavery In the Ninteenth Century.” Census.Gov, www.census.gov/history/pdf/slavedensitymap.pdf.

Schulten, Susan. “Visualizing Slavery.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Dec. 2010, opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/visualizing-slavery/.

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