Author: Harrison Schaub

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Stage 6- Criticism of Samuel Duncan Project

. The project by Sam Duncan is focused on the population shift between East and West Germany before the fall of the Soviet Union. Sam’s achieved this by looking at the population shifts in West Germany (due to missing data in East Germany) and researching census data from individual states in West Germany. The author’s hope is that this project will contribute to the wider study of human mass migration and proof that the collapse of the Berlin Wall and Soviet Union were the greatest events in the 20th century.

. Same used for his mapping project the tool of QGIS to complete his mapping project. Sam showed comparisons between population density of Germany between 1970 , 1972, and 1980. I found interesting from the maps (as the author noted) that once the tensions between East and West Germany began to decrease the population in East Germany grew. This is particularly clear during the 1980s, with the population of East Germany increasing due to immigration and higher birth rates in the East. The maps are pretty and the data is accurate and shows surprising population trends.

. While the maps are accurate and I like the inclusion of historical events that impacted the population trends in West Germany. However, the project is somewhat brief in that it would’ve been cool if second-hand quotes were used in the project. For example, quotes from mappers and Professors that have researched this particular topic and what viewpoints they hold over the data. That way there is more of a diverse range of opinions on what the data presents and why… I understand that census data for East Germany is missing/ unavailable especially during the height of the Cold War. However, there is data available of the decline of the Jewish population in East Germany following the holocaust and anti-jewish programs right after ww2. A view sources with this information are the “Jewish Virtual Library” and “the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.”

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Practicum 1

For my geo-referenced project I used an image of Pompeii dated from 1832. The map details the archeological sight from what was currently found during the 1800s and 30s. The geo reference tool allows me to focus on a particular section of the map thus, allowing me to learn more and provide detail information on the area.

In terms of the course, large population centers are better mapped out with heat maps, strata maps, and anything requiring data.

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Practicum 2

Success!

1.) For practicum 2: I successfully geo referenced a map of the second day’s battle of Gettysburg. In terms of using the geo referenced image as a guide; it will be easier to view and see where key events of the battle occurred. As such, helping Historians and Archeologists to accurately map out locations of these events and designate certain areas of historical and archeological significance.

2.) It depends on what type of map you use to geo reference. Some Google Maps aren’t useful due to using modern locations for historic events. Like what I have found with my project on the Salem Witch Trials, using modern maps and geo referencing might not be the best approach to use. Due to locations changing overtime and the lack of knowledge of where key people lived during the trials.

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Stage 3

Baker, Emerson W. A Storm of Witchcraft : The Salem Trials and the American Experience. Oxford, [England: Oxford University Press, 2015.

This book by Dr. Emerson W. Baker is a chronicle of the events before, during, and after the Salem Witch Trials. The book looks at the different factors at play that led to the accusations and the “witch hysteria” of 1692. Emerson also takes a look at the reaction of the Massachusetts colony and their attempts at covering up the trials.

Brown, David C. “The Forfeitures at Salem, 1692.” The William and Mary Quarterly 50, no. 1 (1993): 85–111. https://doi.org/10.2307/2947237.

After finding this source during our meeting and taking a closer look. This article from the William and Mary Quarterly examines the seizure of property that occurred to multiple victims accused of witchcraft. The author (David C. Brown) seeks to build a deeper understanding on why these forfeitures occurred and their role in the divide in Salem.

Ray, Benjamin C. “The Geography of Witchcraft Accusations in 1692 Salem Village.” The William and Mary Quarterly 65, no. 3 (2008): 449–78. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25096807.

This article will be one of my most important to use in making my final project. The article contains maps that examine the role geography played in who was accused and the accusers during the trial. My main intention for the final project is to build a “story map” centered on the role property disputes played in the trail? And these maps will be a good starting point for me to use.

Roach, Marilynne K. The Salem Witch Trials : A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community under Siege. 1st Cooper Square Press ed. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2002.

This book is a great overview of the history of the Witch Trials in Salem. The book is filled with first-hand accounts, maps, and tries to follow a general timeline of the trials. This timeline examines crucial events of the trials and provides first-hand accounts to get the reader into the mindset of those involved.

https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/gis/index.html

This website by researchers from the University of Virginia, examines the Salem Witch Trials on two criteria. First, examining where victims and accusers lives and second, detailing the age, relationships, and wealth of victims and their accusers. The site is filled with maps, resources, articles, and past projects that will be vital in the creation of my final project.

https://www2.tulane.edu/~salem/index.html

This website by Tulane provides an overview of the Salem Witch Trials. Looking at property disputes, the history of the trials, social, political, and economic divisions, that was in Salem during and before the trials. It also has a wide variety of first-hand accounts that will be helpful in creating my final project.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm

This website provides legal information of the Salem Witch Trials from UMKC. It provides legal documents and testimonies of “witches” being examined and how the trials went down.

http://www.17thc.us/primarysources/

This is an old website with outdated security features. However, it is a reference guide for first-hand accounts that are found online, books, and scholarly articles.

Border Disputes

This website is produced by the “Salem Witch Museum” and is a general overview of the border disputes that existed in Salem.

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Blog Post- The Ethical Implications of Mapping History

The period of American History ranging from 1877 to 1968 was a violent and politically charged time in our nation’s history. Following the end of the civil war, the plan of Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson fell of from Lincoln’s inital plan and failed to properly address racial tensions in the south. Following the emancipation of former slaves, African Americans were able to practice their constitutional right of voting for the canidates of their choice. At the same time however, white suprimacist across the south began to form groups to fight against this right. One of their many acts aganst African Amricans was voter intemination done to prevent racial and ethnic minorites from voting across the south.

One of the many violent acts these groups commited was a practice called lynching. During the period of Reconstruction, lynching was used as a common tactic by the KKK to scare and prevent African Americans from going out and voting. This map titled “Racial Terror Lynchings” from the article titiled “Racism in the Machine: Visulization Ethics in Digital Humanities Projects.” This resource gives an insightful overview of the violence and persecution African Americans faced across the south from the years of 1877 to 1950. The map allows you to find specific data on a state or region where lynchings occured during this period. From the evidence presented on the map, we can see that ynchings were more common in the “deep south” Alabam, Missippi, Louisiana, and Georgia. We know from historical records that groups such as the KKK had more influence in the “deep south” than anywhere else in the country. However, the map also shows that lynching wasn’t excluively done by white supremacist groups rather, it transitioned during the period of Jim Crow.

With the end of Reconstruction in 1877, governments across the south began to from laws that actively kept African American excluded from regular society. These laws would become known as the “Jim Crow Laws” and would be enforced across the south well into the 1960s. During this time, African Americans became targets of racial mob violence during periods of political turmoil and when an African American faced a trial for a crime against a white person. During particularly violent racial riots enitre African American communities were detroyed and its people displaced. Lynching (as seen in the map above) was used by whites to excute African Americans they viewed guilty.

What I really liked about the article provided in the course syllabus was it showed how widespread these riots were. Often, in history class in high school we are taught that racial violence was only occuring in the south and nowehere else in the United States. I can understand why… considering you can cover so much in a high school hitory class. However, it gives an incomplete picture of the reality of the United States during this period of violence and tension. Racial violence in the West Coast of the United States is often overlooked/not discussed as much when we discuss this period of United States History. (As the above map on the right shows) mob violence against ethnic groups ocured in major cities across California and the Western United States. One of the tensions in the west coast was the increasing number of immigrants arriving from the east. White suprimacist and “natavist” groups attacked these immigrants which is presenetd on the map.

A story that is often overlooked during this time period was a form of resistance by an African American during the time of Jim Crow. His name was Monroe Nathan Work who during his time in Savannah, Georgia, witnessed the first segregation laws passed during Jim Crow. While living in Savannah he woud marry a school teacher named Florence Hendrickson, together they would work together in documenting lynching, documenting lack of resources in African American school, sgregation in their community, and pushed for better living conditions for African Americans. Together the two of them would create a program called “Nego Health Week” which was designed to promote healthy living in African Amercian comunities.

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Stage 2

My final project for History 317- Mapping History and Cartography, I will be focusing on the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Through historical mapping I plan to answer what role property disputes played in the Salem Witch Trials? I will use two sets of data to explore this theory, first, where each accuser and accused lived and second, who owned what in Salem Village and Salem Towne in 1692.? With my mapping project I hope to show that long held political and property disputes contributed to who was accused by the accusers. I also hope to create a timeline/provide brief background information on the events in Salem.

My mapping project will consist of creating a story map that details the history of the trials, why they are important, why they occurred, who owned what in Salem, and where each accuser was located. I also will use a number of historical sources that I have found online- one of these sources is from the William and Mary Quarterly titled “The Geography of Witchcraft Accusations in 1692 Salem” by Benjamin C. Ray. The article contains a lot of maps that details how the geography impacted the people of Salem. However, the map that is the most important from my project is “Figure II.”

The map mentioned on figure two in the article is a mad detailing where the accused and accusers lived. The map key is A= Accuser, D= Defender, and W= Accused Witch, as you can see in the map, nearly all of the accusers lived in Salem Village. Back in 1692, Salem was divided between Salem Towne and Salem Village. (Salem Towne is located in the eastern portion and Salem Village is located on the western portion of the map.) As you can probably imagine due to Salem Towne’s location by the port there was a large wealth disparity between the two areas. This wealth disparity might have played a role in the accusations, considering a significant amount of people in Salem Towne were wealthy. I plan to use this map as a “layer map” for my final project and I will try to add names of the most famous accusers and accused. A few of the names are already on the map however, I want to provide a brief biography and how they relate to the witchcraft trials at large?

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Blog Post 9

The Great Plains of the United States is a wide, open, and flat region located in the central United States. From pre-history to the early 19th century, the plains were filled herds of millions of buffalo and its only occupants were small populations of native tribes whose villages dotted the plains. This changed during the 19th century when the idea of “manifest destiny” promoted immigrants to travel westwards to reestablish themselves. Followed by in 1862, when Lincoln signed into law the “homestead act” which increased the amount of immigrants to the Midwest.

If I’m reading the map correctly… these sets of maps featured on David Ramsay, shows the removal of the prairie overtime. This map produced in the 1900s shows the production of wheat from land that has been plowed overly farmers. From the short time that westward expansion began to 1900, we can see that vast areas of the plains have been converted to farmland.

Moving forward to the 1960s and 70s, we notice an interesting pattern that arose during the plowing of the plains. In areas with high humidity, fertile soil, and access to ports, the grasslands have virtually disappeared by the 60s and 70s. Those fields had all been converted to farmland, roads paved over them, or became locations of large cities such as Dallas, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, etc. Yet, some untouched areas of grassland remain on the map and this is due largely to weather and geography. The areas with large grasslands ranging from >60 to 90%, were found to contain “bad soil’ an example of this can be found near Holton, Kansas. That small region of preserved grassland and prairie was found to contain soil that was too rocky for farming as such, this area was spared the devastation caused by plowing. Another example found on these maps is far Northern Texas and Western New Mexico. While this area does contain the cities of Amarillo and Lubbock, the climate is very dry with little to no rainfall throughout the year and rocky soil. Thus, this area was unable to support large population centers causing settlers to move away and settle in a more hospitable environment.

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Harrison-Practicum 1

For my geo-referenced project I used an image of Pompeii dated from 1832. The map details the archeological sight from what was currently found during the 1800s and 30s. The geo reference tool allows me to focus on a particular section of the map thus, allowing me to learn more and provide detail information on the area.

In terms of the course, large population centers are better mapped out with heat maps, strata maps, and anything requiring data.

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