Free States vs. Slave States ~Oh How Far We've Come...

My friend Q-T sent this to me ~ sadly, these two maps need no explanation, yet they raise more questions than they answer  (scroll down to see both maps):

In case it's hard to read, on the Pre-Civil War Map, the red areas were slave states and the brown areas were territories open to slavery, while the green areas were free states and territories.  These distinctions eerily correspond to the red states vs. blue states on the 2004 Election Map ~~ i.e., the blue (Kerry) states correspond to the pre-civil-war free states and territories, while the red (Bush) states correspond to what were the slave states and territories.  As one of my co-workers said to me, this might be the most "devastatingly accurate explanation I've seen for what happened on Tuesday."  There's a little more discussion about all this, here. 

As I post this, I am getting ready to attend the Alameda County Women Judges' Dinner in Oakland, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board decision, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee is scheduled to speak.  After seeing this map today, I'm relieved to have this event to attend tonight.  Oh how far we have come as a free country, right?

EPILOGUE: It looks like I may be one of the few bloggers who posted these maps ~ my hits have surpassed 1,000 5,000 12,000 per day for the last couple of days.  This tells me that the maps are being forwarded all over the blogosphere and people are talking about what they may or may not represent.  I wish I had had more time to contribute lengthy commentary when I posted the maps but (1) I was in a rush when I posted them and (2) as I mentioned before, I do believe the maps speak for themselves, although I acknowledge that they also implicate social-political-historical nuances and complex factors that should be addressed, debated, and discussed.  I am glad to see, though, that the maps spurred so much discussion ~ check out the comments section, here.  I think the comments people have posted offer additional insight, some clarification (like issues with Oregon), and Woody's comment is especially enlightening and educated on the issue of over/under-representation and necessary redistricting.  More on this, soon.  Keep posting your thoughtful comments!   

EPILOGUE 2 (November 13): As the maps make their way around the blogosphere and onto message boards and forums, they are inciting quite a heated discussion.  I think this can be helpful since it forces people to address divisive and provocative issues.  However, some of the more recent comments (and emails to me) have been vulgar, offensive, or just downright incomprehensible (imagine lots of CAPS, bold, and biblical references).  So, First Amendment aside, and because the comments are so voluminous now, and in the interest of presenting an informed exchange of ideas, I have started deleting the strictly offensive rants (you know who you are) and am keeping those comments (even the ranting ones) that add to the debate.  You can see for yourself that I have kept comments on that address both sides of the issues. 

As another friend just pointed out, the maps act as a sort-of Rorschach Test ~~ you see what you want to see ~ your interpretation of the image is a projection of your personality traits and internal conflicts, not to mention your emotional and intellectual functioning.   No, just because I posted the maps does not mean that I really think that the residents of Alabama (State Motto: "We Dare Defend Our Rights") believe in slavery. (!)  To me, the images (and subsequent comments) simply point out that we as a country cannot, nor refuse to, face difficult racial issues.  I think the mentality which allowed certain parts of the country at a certain time in our history to accept the violent subjugation of an entire human race ... well, it still "colors" perspective (pun intended).  I mean, it was a mere 50 years ago that this country rejected the "separate but equal doctrine" set down by our Supreme Court in 1892......yet there is not equality for people of color, not to mention LGBT, non-WASP, or poor people, in this country ~~ the elite continue to pass racist and unconstitutional legislation such as Prop. 187 and Prop. 209 in California, not to mention the recent abhorrent anti-gay amendments across the country or the tax cuts that favor the wealthy and delude the middle-class into thinking they'll reap the benefits. 

So, think what you will about the maps ~~ but articulate an intelligent, well-informed opinion (as many of the commenters have done) ~~ don't just get your Confederate Flag in a wad and wave it at me.

Comments

[Gregory Wonderwheel]

That's fun! Until today I didn't know this was being circulated so widely.

I was the person who created that map comparison and presented it on Nov. 6, 2004, at the Radical Philosophy Association Annual Conference in a talk entitled “American Fascism in the Equation of American Empire” (it is on page 17 of the workbook I handed out with the talk). Afterwards I gave an electonic version to someone who was at the conference who then apparently started the snowball rolling in the internet.

Along with the map comparison I provided the following comparison of comments about "moral values" on page 18.

#####################

What exactly are “Moral Values”?

CBS News
60 Minutes
Moral Values: A Decisive Issue?
Nov. 3, 2004

Voters focused on four issues: moral values, the economy, terrorism and the war in Iraq. The issue most voters thought was most important was moral values.

For those voters, the choice was lopsided: 79 percent went for Mr. Bush, and only 18 percent for Kerry.

Was it the decisive issue in this election?

"There were 11 states with definition of marriage, opposition to same-sex marriage initiatives on the ballot," says Frankovic. "We were aware of the discussion of religion, so when this issue [moral values] beat out the economy, beat out terrorism, beat out Iraq, I think it was something that sort of struck us as important."

What exactly are those moral values? Different voters defined them differently, but those who voted for Mr. Bush oppose gay marriage and feel matrimony ought to be a union between a man and a woman. They also oppose abortion rights to some degree, and oppose broader government support for stem-cell research.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/03/60II/main653593.shtml

*******************

A History of The Defense of Slavery In America
Larry E. Tise (University of Georgia)

"The Oracular Decisions of God have positively declared that the Slave-Trade is intrinsically good and licit, [and that the holding of slaves] is perfectly consonant to the principles of the Law of Nature, the Mosaic Dispensation, and the Christian Law" wrote one Raymond Harris in Scriptural Researches on the Licitness of the Slave-Trade. Thus, he said, slavery has "the positive sanction of God in its support."

http://www.ralphmag.org/tise.html

**************************************
White Southerners' Defense of Slaveholding
The Spectator, December 6, 1859, p. 2, c. 1

The intelligent, christian slave-holder at the South is the best friend of the negro. He does not regard his bonds-men as mere chattel property, but as human beings to whom he owes duties. While the Northern Pharisee will not permit a negro to ride on the city railroads, Southern gentlemen and ladies are seen every day, side by side, in cars and coaches, with their faithful servants. Here the honest black man is not only protected by the laws and public sentiment, but he is respected by the community as truly as if his skin were white. Here there are ties of genuine friendship and affection between whites and blacks, leading to an interchange of all the comities of life. The slave nurses his master in sickness, and sheds tears of genuine sorrow at his grave. When sick himself, or overtaken by the infirmity of age, he is kindly cared for, and when he dies the whites grieve, not for the loss of so much property, but for the death of a member of the family.--This is the relation which slaves generally, and domestic servants universally, sustain to their white masters.

http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/teaching/vclassroom/proslavewsht2.html

#######################

One of my several points of discusson of course is that the media reporting that "moral values" was a deciding factor in the election just because certain people called their views "moral values" is absolutely no indication that actual moral values were involved at all.

My underlying purpose it to inform people that Fascists always use "moral values" as a label for their views in order to innoculate their positions against reasoned evaluation. If you call it a moral value then it takes on the tinge of "religion" and we "know" that everyone has their freedom of religious views in the USA, don't we? Such sanctimony and moralism are one of the 10 key factors in identifying fascism.

I certainly agree that the maps generate a Rorschach like experience. But let's remember that such imagining does have a shared basis, otherwise the Rorschach itself couldn't be interpreted. Some of the shared views of these maps are of course the many comments about the "Southern Strategy" adoped by the Republicans and the Confederacy Conservativism that gives the Republican Party its core of believers.

The great irony is of course that the Conferacy Conservatives are being shamelessly used by the plutocrates in the Republican Party to give them the votes to make themselves richer at the expense of those very same Confederacy Conservatives.

See comments re these maps other blogs:

http://montages.blogspot.com/2004/11/from-black-reconstruction-to-operation.html#comments

http://sensoryoverload.typepad.com/sensory_overload/2004/11/free_states_vs_.html

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=2002

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/writing/2004/11/voting_free_ves.html

Gregory Wonderwheel

[Jack]

No matter what anyone says about these maps everyone should know and understand that this election came down to one thing and one thing only.....RACE!!! People in this society want to put this illusion up that race in this country does not matter. In fact it matters in everthing we do in the USA! People need to understand that we are not far removed from slavery, jim crow, the civil rights movement, or the voting rights act of 1965. People need to wake up and understand that there will be no "racial" harmony in this country while people of color still live under a state of white supremacy.

[Anthony]

You are absolutely right on target.
I am also pleased to see that many individuals are now seeing the real side of Bush, his Cabal and the ‘white’ Republican Party.
One must keep in mind that the Republican party in the South today was established when the 'Dixiecrats' bolted from the Democratic party because Truman began to take an active role in civil rights for African-Americans. Remember he signed an Executive Order to integrate the armed forces. He was predicted to loose because the Democratic Party had lost its support in the south.
Lincoln went over to the original Republican Party because it was formed from the Anti-Nebraskan movement, which did not want expansion of slavery. Stephen Douglas, as a democrat was in favor of the expansion. The Democratic Party of that day took no position on any aspect of slavery. Lincoln was against slavery but had no party to run from with at least the same sentiment. The anti- Nebraskans didn’t want blacks coming into their area, they weren’t against slavery.
For modern day Republicans to say that they are the party of Lincoln is obscene.
The modern Republican Party has been, and always will be, the party of discrimination.
What Karl Rove and Bush’s other henchmen did was to play on that discrimination. Where it use to be (and still is) ‘do you want your daughter to marry a black man’ or worse still ‘do you want niggers to live next door’ – they merely substituted Gays and Lesbians in that equation. They do it under the justification of Bush and God. Nothing different than what the Southerner’s and their ministers preached for years using the bible as proof that slavery was justified.
In the areas that you show as red – south and mid-west – bigotry and bias always plays well. They are still firm believers of ‘White Supremacy’ going back to their Anglo-Saxon heritage. They are also hypocrites as they are silent on the fiscal madness of Bush. Of course, all those farms would disappear if it were not for Federal Subsidies. After all, they like their ‘farm welfare’ checks.
The Urban centers always reject those bigoted points of view.
Isn’t it interesting that the two areas, which were hit by terrorist planes, voted against Bush -- New York and D.C.
So it is necessary for those who may be disappointed to get off their back sides and become activists to prevent Bush from doing too much damage in the next four years. It’s like a ship that has been hit by a torpedo. Ship’s company goes into what is called “Damage Control” wherein activities immediately go underway to prevent the sinking of the ship and bringing it into a safe port for repairs.
I am a white man, heterosexual, married for many years, served in the Marine Reserves and active duty as a Naval Reserve Officer for four years — in case anyone of those bigoted Republicans thinks otherwise to discredit my statements.

[ebot]

Good to see that at least 2 slave states have seen the light! Maryland and Delaware are now BLUE states!!!

[Janet]

Come on folks. You can't be that swayed by some of these pictorals. This is showing convservatism...not slavery promoters. This election was Urban vs. Suburban/Rural. Look at the county votes. Get a better argument, or even better yet...the election is over...move on with your life...we here in MA have and we all voted Kerry.

[Minority Report]

That map doesn't reveal anything. There just as much racist white people in the Blue states as in the Red states. Why do you think white people move out when minorities move in their neighborhood, even in an upper middle class neighborhood? It's a common trend in your so called Blue state California. So, to make generalization that everyone in middle America are Jesus freaks and pro slavery is kinda backwards thinking don't you think?

I'm a minority in the upper income bracket, and our neighbors have moved out because we moved into their neighborhood. A friend of mine in So CAL had the same experience, but before his white neighbors moved out from a brand new neighborhood, they dumped garbaged into my friend's backyard.

[Steve]

This blue state/red state/slave state/free state argument doesn't have much to stand on since it is mostly being pushed by angry Democrats.

These are the same folks that were ready to run McClellan vs. Lincoln in the 1864 election on the platform of ending the war and allowing the South to break free with their slaves.

Personally, this reminds me of when the US was hip deep in Vietname thanks to a Democratic Oval Office and the Republicans were sore over the defeat of Goldwater.

I'm still waiting to hear our exit strategy for Korea, Kosovo and Europe.

[bengalspice]

I don't really think it's fair to make that conclusion. There are so many factors other than bigotry ... or the historic stance that these states had at one point or another in history. We have to take into account the poverty rate of these ppl, what the economy is like in these states, and education ... you can't just base it on what the map looked like then and now.

[tyny]

It's a damn shame! We're all americans. How long will it take everyone to realize. Oh, I forgot we all haven't experienced the elegance of struggling.

[Dan]

As a black Bush voter in a red state, I can only shake my head at this idiocy. Keep calling Bush voters "backwards, racist rednecks", and you will keep losing. And losing. And losing. You are also woefully unaware of history, yet you people control the public schools and universities. What does that say?

West Virginia came into existence just so they WOULDN'T have to secede from the Union. West Virginia is a red state. It is true that one of West Virginia's senators is a former Klansman, but Robert Byrd is a Democrat. Hmmmmm

Ohio lost more people fighting for the Union than any other state. Ohio is a red state.

Maryland and Delaware, both blue states, both SLAVE states.

Iowa, Kansas (my home), Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, all fought for the Union, and all red states.

Of course, you erroneously act as if the only red states were southern states, and forget about the southwest and the midwest.

And here's another interesting FACT. The Northeastern states, like Massachusetts, New York and much of New England were filled with Tories who did not support the American Revolution. They were anti-liberty and anti-American.

I guess they still are today.

[johnsbin]

Where's the map that shows when Massachussetts used to trade in Native American slaves?

[E.A.C.]

One thing for sure, the ones who currently divided the U.S.A. with the election probably are the same ones who divided the U.S.A. with the civil wars, considering that the way the U.S.A. is divided fall into similiar patterns. And with all of the elections around the world, chances are the people who run these elections are the same.

Folks, our enemies work in a vast time scale and in a global scale.

Fortunately, we can deter these attacks by remembering one thing, do not resist evil.

[David M. Ray]

I usually don't even bother to compose a response to these sorts of misleading fallacies of the media. But it is so prevalent in this post-election time that I've just seen too much of it. By using the headline "Free States vs. Slave States", an immediate deception is perpetrated that continues to deceive right through all following commentary. This statement makes the inaccurate assumption that the "Civil" war was exclusively about slavery, and also implyies that somehow white people in the northern states in 1861 were less racist than their southern contemporaries, which is also false in the extreme. The votes are divided as they are for the same reasons that the war broke out in the first place. These were philisophical differences in forms of government and policy, not whether or not black people should be free. The people in the southern (former Confederate) states generally adhere to a philosophy of less government. They do not want the "help" from endless programs and institutions. They do not want a vast collection of unworkable and unnecessary reglation on their day to day life. Those in the northern states favor a more mercantilist government, one that collects funds and allocates them back to society via endless programs, and one that will endlessly regulate everything "for our own good". At the end of the day, Iraq had less to do with the vote than this fundamental difference of opinion in the purpose of government. I say let's just go ahead and split up. The north wants their "social democracy" and the south wants a free republic. Let's stop with this unworkable compromise and give back the right for everyone to "alter or abolish their form of government". But whatever you do, for God's sake please stop with this "slave states vs. free states" garbage. It's not only irrelevent in the 21st century, and not only serves to perpetuate racial hostilities on all sides, but also eliminates any possibility of actually learning about the history of our country and the nature of our government.

[Adam Morse]

It is so hard for me to understand the wailing coming from the Dems on the slave map issue. After all, they had control of the South for nearly 100 years after the Civil War. (The term "yellow dog" democrat originated in the South: it was a voter that would vote for a yellow dog, if it was on the Dem ticket).

What this is really all about is just a way to paint the South as bigots in the third degree. The elitist view that somehow Northerners are morally and intellectually superior is a smugness that caused the South to leave the ranks of the Democrat party beginning in the 1960's. We don't buy the elitism for one minute. You want to begin the healing, begin there. Dump the attitude.

We in the South are not gun-totin', knuckle-draggin', religious zealot, extra chromosome idiots. We have the ability to think independently of the lunacy that we have observed in the North. We do not want your restrictions, taxation, political correctness, overcrowding, New York minute type of lifestyle down here in the South. We like our lifestyle just fine.

Now if y'all want a piece of that lifestyle, fine. Come on down, we're happy to have you. But if you want to change that, just go ahead and stay put. This ain't no place to be trying out your failed ideas.

I stand by everything in this post. These are not opinions, they are fact.

[UMPI]

To respond to Casey:
First of all, it is your attitude that just further divides Democrats and Republicans. I would like nothing more than a reconciliation between the two parties, but if everyone is going to bicker like two petulant children fighting over a lolipop, then we'll continue to have problems. I also agree that the maps don't entirely make sense, they must be taken with a sense of humor. But think of it this way: do you think that ALL people in slave states believed in slave ownership? No, just as not all residents of free states believed in slave freedom. Same goes for this election. Such maps can never have true accuracy. To do that, we'd have to show a house-to-house map.

Second, before you use big words, try to spell them correctly. Whoops, there goes my Democratic eliteness again. I'm a bit ornery, owing to my chapped ass. Sorry.

[Craig]

Bush doesnt like blacks?

[cantthinkofaname]

This is a very interesting look at how divided the country has been for hundrends of years.

I do want to point out that one of the main differences (and ultimately one of the main causes) of the Civil War was States Rights. Namely keeping the federal government small. There had been a large movement (among the Republicans) to give the federal government more autority. The predominently Southern democratic states want to keep the autonomy of the States over the Feds.

Interesting how at the time the rolls and philosophies of the Democratic and Republican parties are almost the opposite of what they are today.

I would absolutely love it if the Civil War had been about the abolition of slavery. I think that it is very unfortunate that it was just something that was on the sidelines. I think that we Americans like to think it had a bigger roll because it makes us feel better.

I think that what this map shows is that the more 'progressive' socialist leaning areas of the country are about where they have always been.

And unfortunately civil rights (for people of all color, religion, sex and sexual orientation) are still issues that need to be worked on.

I do have to say though, that in this election the Democratic party did make inroads in several states that have always been strongly republican. No, they did not necessarily win them, but they did get a higher percentage of the vote.

[Goldie]

The 2004 election county by county blue/red or purple/blue/red maps make more sense when compared with population density.
http://ftp2.census.gov/geo/maps/special/profile2k/US_2K_Profile.pdf

[kerry]

Better than the slave-state comparison:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/images/Lymemap2000big.jpg
http://images.usatoday.com/news/electmap.jpg

[Tom]

Blue states versus Red States means nothing! If 51% of the people in the Blue states were Blue, it means that although the state is Blue, 49% of it's residents are Red. The opposite is true of the Red states.
Of course this is probably not exact, because the percentages may vary within states; but as a national whole of all Reds and Blues, 51% are red and 49% are Blue. Making it appear to be otherwise is innaccurate. The representation that the residents of all blue states have a blue mentality is as inaccurate as representing that the residents of all Red states have the proported Red mentality.
Unfortunately the Blues and the Media (most of which are blues) perpetrate this hoax to further divide the country into the "empathetic (touchy feeley slaves)vs the rednecks (gun carrying slave owners".
It' all part of the liberal mentality that says the government and the rich should take care of the ones who have chosen to work for the government (thereby avoiding responsibility for themselves) but still think they should be "rich"(whatever that is).
It's bullshit!

[Harry Smith]

Explain this:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/countymap.htm

Or do you censor comments from the right?

[Casey]

I like this one better:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/countymap.htm

Looks like there are a lot of 'slave wanting backwards rednecks' even in the 'best' states. Wow, looks like the whole country - to be honest!

[a stahl]

The map shows that the children of slave holders and Indian killers still have hate and white fascism on their mind. They voted Bush in hopes of keeping the threat of non white terrorist from browning America. Bush of course is just for the money boys regardless of color. You should realize that 88% of white America voted for Bush.. to save them...from the brown masses...have you ever listened to Limbaugh and all those Am talk pundits..they are very clear about keeping America for the benefit and privilege of the white male only. And they use a kind of radical racist Christianity to back up their view.."Curse of ham" etc.. the same justification used for slavery and killing of the Indians. America is a racist fascist country always has been. And still is..its just showing its ugly head more under Bush.

The Blue states have controlled media and culture for a long time so the deception of equality and fairness was thought to be true..but not so.....Ask any non white in America if all is well with equality and quality of life ..you will get an answer that may surprise you. Just because you as a white male enjoys a good life and partakes in a"fair" social and economic system does not mean it is equal for all. Abortion rights, gays rights, civil rights and all the rights Blacks gained from the 60's are on the chopping block. Are you aware that white median total assets is $88,00.00 there abouts... Hispanic about $10,00.00 and Blacks $5,00.00. There is a great disparity and not because,as most whites imagine, they are just lazy, criminal or uneducated but because of a system set in place from the turn of the century..where banks will not give loans, segregation limited home purchasing options and limited educational opportunities, and limited hiring. All these improved in the 1980's but Blacks and Hispanics, Asians and Indians are about 100 years behind whites in economic gain yet the red states are still under "threat" by these groups.

Welcome to America .....a nation built on hate, separation and inequality.

[Stan Pupper]

The two maps, side by side, were indeed shocking. We haven't come all that far in 150 some odd years. There has been a lot of talk recently about California seceding from the "union," for the majority of the people in this state are certainly not represented by the Bush Cabal. But why go it alone? We've got LOTS of company! All the blue states should serve the red states with "revised term of surrender of the Confederate States" ORDERING them back into the Confederacy taking the red states since admitted with them! Good riddance! And...look at the map: we've not only got them surrounded but we've got all the best states from NY to CA to WA to ME, etc. Let the Republicans twist in the wind!

[Jim]

But the Civil War wasn't really about slavery. It was about States' Rights - which is exactly what it's about today. Numerous laws are being passed that are obviously not Constitutional (e.g. Patriot Act) that restrict right guaranteed to the states or individuals by the Constitution. There will be another civil war and the major casualty will be our Republic.