The project that I am reviewing is one that is rather close to my heart. It is one that shows truly the widespread pain that millions of people had to go through. Simply seeing the numbers makes me wonder about how much we still do not know about this particular topic. This is a project about “The Spread of Slavery in the U.S”. The purpose of this project is to show the reader the percentage of enslaved individuals at different points in time from 1790 to 1860. This project was made by Lincoln Mullen, an author, and historian of the nineteenth-century and American religion. He’s written many literary works like the book, The Chance of Salvation, or a Newspaper article called America’s Public Bible. The source from which Mullen draws his data is the U.S Census Data from the Minnesota Population Center, National Historical Geographic Information System. That is where he got the data and mapping files that he used to present the information. He presents this data by having a timeline-based map in which it shows the same region, but as the years progress you see the country expand as well as the number of enslaved people. You can also adjust the enslaved population that you are viewing. You can set the map to show the enslaved percentage, as well as the enslaved people per mile squared. It doesn’t just have enslaved options either. Uniquely you can choose to see the free African American population. Lincoln Mullen apparently made the map himself and even posted the code he used to make it. Mullen also has explanations about the census data for each decade describing the Slave population, Total population, and the Free African American Population.
The overall user experience is very accessible. The first thing you see when you open the site is the map, you also see clearly that you move the timeline to see the desired period to observe. The tab to choose population is right next to it and clearly has multiple options that just require a click to see. For those unsure directly underneath the map is a section that explains how to use it. It tells you how to zoom in on certain countries and clarifies the meanings of the different colors if the Census key to the right of the map did not do that already. The darker colors mean higher numbers of people and the lighter to complete for white shades meaning there were few or it was not applicable. The audience that this site is meant to target is most likely African American people. I say this because the free population specifically shows The African American population, unlike the enslaved population which does not specify. It is stated in the Census Explanations that the enslaved are classified as “Non-White” which could mean a number of different things. Given the only race mentioned by name is African Americans it is a fair assumption to say that is the targeted audience. The project addresses the truth of the matter, and it was kind of nice to see that there were a good amount of free African Americans over these time periods.
The site shows us a lot of spatial history throughout the described time periods. We get to see not only the spread of people but the spread of land. Throughout the timeline, There are major additions to the map and from that, we can see if the enslaved population moved from one place to another. How one went down over time or stayed the same. The ability to zoom in on countries allows the reader to examine the population throughout the years. If the enslaved population increased or decreased and by examining others we can theorize if the decrease of slave population led to the increase of another. We can also theorize that the decrease in the enslaved population led to an increase in the Free population. It captures African American identity only in the Free population census. The way the enslaved population is described is too broad so the only identity we can confirm is simply what identity the population isn’t. Just like Abbey Mullen says about visualization, this map is a form of interactive visualization. The fact that you can change the variables you are viewing gives you the chance to perceive the data in a multitude of ways. Also how this map tells a story of the correlation between the U.S. expansion and the spread of slaves across it. Mullen is allowing us to draw a connection between the two to make us think.
The website gives a unique stance on slavery in that it allows the reader to draw their own conclusions about the expansion of slavery over this period. Mullen simply states the information and explains the data. Outside of that the interpretation is up to the reader. It also tells us about the free African American population during times of slavery, which is someting I have never seen discussed before. It is nice to see a different side of the African American population during their most difficult time. The most successful component is the interactive map that allows the reader to take the journey through history at their own pace. To digest the information and draw their own conclusions and compare the change over time.
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