Slave Demographic from 1790 to 1860

This collection of maps shows the change in population of slaves from 1790 to 1860 in the United States. I used Social Explorer, which takes United States census data and creates maps based on different demographics, to analyze the movement of slavery. In 1790, much of the slave population settled in southern colonies such as Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The most dense slave populations during this decade occurred on the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia. This makes sense because the slave migration across the Atlantic went to coastal cities and southern colonies utilized African Americans for labor in their economy. In 1830, slave population density grew intensely throughout the states and expanded westward to new colonies that were established. The density of slaves in coastal areas increased to 70+ percent in the south. Additionally, the mainland of all the colonies grew in slave density, apart from the very most North colonies (Maine, New York, New Hampshire, etc). This shift illustrates that after American Independence from Great Britain, the slavery movement in the United States became more prominent and southern states grew immensely dependent on slaves for labor in their agricultural economy. In 1860, the colonies continued to expand west and the movement of slaves continued to spread across the nation. The density of the slave population was extremely large along the Mississippi River with densities of 90+ percent in certain areas. What I wonder is why African Americans migrated to the Mississippi River? What was the reasoning for their accumulation along the water? Altogether, it is incredibly evident that instead of slavery becoming abolished after American independence, the institutionalized servitude heightened throughout the 1800’s, as illustrated through the varying maps that I created.

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