Exemplary Prepare Spatial Data Assignment from 1102 Student, Fall 2022
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In terms of spatial data for the Political Revolutions reading, I would like to show the rise and fall of the French Empire in terms of land across Europe. This would be spatial data based on polygons as it would show French gains or losses using a blue polygon. Another piece of spatial data that could be interesting could be lines to represent ships going to Latin America. In the reading, it is discussed that when the now South American countries became independent, they choose to open their ports to everyone as compared to Spain’s control of colonial trade. We could use records from shipping companies and ports to determine the journey of these ships. These lines would most likely stay low during Spanish colonial rule, then spike when these places became independent. Furthermore, these lines could be different colors to represent ships of different countries, as it was noted in the reading that Latin America was largely dependent on British trade during the 19th century. Finally, for the last piece of spatial data in the Political Revolutions reading, I would choose the diverse makeup of Latin America during colonial Spain. The reading the many groups of people that continent had during the years leading to independence and after, so I think it would be interesting if we could take census data from Spanish colonial sources and plot it on a map, like they do with the US census, to determine which people lived were in terms of income, ethnicity, etc. Like population density, certain colors would represent more, and others would represent less of a group of people or income level. This would most likely be broken up into polygons depending on how colonial officials conducted the census. In terms of the Native American Gender Roles in Pre-Civil War America, first, I would choose as spatial data the many indigenous groups who in the 1830s, as the reading notes, were forced off the lands they had lived on for generations to as the reading describes it, “formal and informal reservations” (McCutchen). We could use lines to show the journey these groups were forced to make across many miles of land. Relating to this, I would also choose as spatial data the land of these indigenous groups, specifically east of the Mississippi River, and I could also incorporate decades, like a timeline, with polygons representing the land they controlled. It would show a general trend of declination as these groups lost more and land as they were kicked off their ancestral lands. Finally, I would choose a map relating to the matrilineal structure of indigenous groups that shows polygons of the different lands that groups controlled, with different colors to represent whether they were matrilineal or not.
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I would choose the first one because I think a map could help us contextualize how France was basically the ruler of the continent and could show us their rise and their fall under different governments and the vast swaths of land around the continent that they occupied for a period. For the second one, I also think that could help us understand how trade greatly changed from colonial Spain to independence. It could also be an indicator of changes in economies, as I assume that during the time of Spanish rule, only Spanish ships are perhaps a smaller number of other ships were going to these colonies, however, as soon as they gained independence, there were no restrictions so many people participated in the trade at the port, however, the British were most likely the highest number of people. Finally, for the last one, I’m unsure of how feasible it would be, but it would certainly be a window into the variety of peoples that lived there are some continue to do in specific areas in South America. It could be compared to modern-day census to show the change in wealth, people, and land in South America. Moving onto Native American Gender Roles in Pre-Civil War America, I think I would choose the first spatial data to show people how deadly and perilous these journeys were, across many hundreds of miles of land in inhumane conditions. For the second data, as we learned in the reading, in the South, wealthy plantation owners held onto to land, and poor white farmers sought land. So, they decided to force Native Americans out of their lands. I think this map would really help us show the significant negative impact the government and settlers had on indigenous groups east of the Mississippi in terms of territory, which can also help us infer more about how their culture was impacted by a sudden removal. The final spatial data would help us show the impact of policies like Jefferson’s that forced Native Americans to conform to colonial values and gender roles.
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In terms of maps I use, I have sometimes used the map at where I work, [redacted]. The map of the store has spatial data for where products are located on the app. The location of a product is marked as a dot on the map in the aisle where it is located. This allows me to find the location of different items for guests and navigate the store to find the right product for them. We also have a map of our school, which I use to navigate around the school when I’m unfamiliar with a location. A student added onto this by creating a map that allows to input directions to get the fastest route from the beginning to the end location.
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I would want every world map or map of location to include the population density of the area to show the true scale of how many people there are in a country, no matter how small or large it might be. This map would use spatial data with polygons to define the area dependent on the density. For example, a map of the US would show the population density based on different colors, where the cities would be a darker color to represent more people per area and the rural areas would be a lighter color, representing less people per area.
Works Citied:
McCutchen, Jennifer Monroe. "American Indian Gender Relations in Antebellum America." Daily Life through History, ABC-CLIO, 2022, dailylife2-abc-clio-com.ndcproxy.mnpals.net.ndcproxy.mnpals.net/Search/Display/2208604. Accessed 4 Oct. 2022.
