The New York Times has a nice writeup on the visualization of slave populations that resulted from the 1860 Census, which is believed to be the first time shading was used to indicate the concentration of slavery. Regions like the Mississippi River are almost entirely black, while states like Missouri and Tennessee are almost entirely white.
The map reaffirmed the belief of many in the Union that secession was driven not by a notion of “state rights,” but by the defense of a labor system. A table at the lower edge of the map measured each state’s slave population, and contemporaries would have immediately noticed that this corresponded closely to the order of secession. South Carolina, which led the rebellion, was one of two states which enslaved a majority of its population, a fact starkly represented on the map.
Unfortunately, the NYTimes “blowup” of the map obscures it’s natural beauty with some interactive icons and features. I managed to find a slightly higher-resolution version at JimZellArt.com , shown below.
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@ Mani Sitaraman Ahh, thanks for pointing that out. I wonder if they added that after the original publication, I see some others in the comments asking for it as well.
There is an easily overlooked link at the New York Times site to a “full-frame” pdf of the map, which is about a 30 megabyte download. Downloading the pdf allows you to examine the original map, without the annoying online notations, in minute detail-over 6000 pixels across, which is way more than the cleaned up map at Jim Zell’s site or the online version.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/opinion/FULLFRAMEmap.pdf
Very nice find Mr. Hand! I was reading the article on NY Times on a flight last night and was getting frustrated at the lack of detail and obfuscation. Thanks much for posting this. The thematic rendering really brings the succession picture into focus.
Thanks,
T