Visualizing the Intersections of Slavery,Gender, and Industry in the 19th Century United States

The data set that I chose to analyze and create visuals based on, ‘Slave Sales 1775-1865’, is numeric, textual, and geographic in nature. The first two rows, state and county code, record the state (only southern states are included) and county in which a particular slave sale transaction took place. The third row is the date of the transaction, recorded only by the year,making the data set even narrower. Though the set is stated as recording data from 1775 to 1865, there is an outlying date of 1742, which could cause some difficulty in drawing conclusions about the data on the whole. There are also dates from 1771 to 1774.
The third row is the gender of the person who was sold, both male and female. In the fourth row, the age of the enslaved person is recorded in years. The next set of data is age in months, which turned out to be useless because all the entries were entered with zero. In the six row is the appraised value of each person. This row in particular figured largely in the direction I decided to go in within my analysis and visualization. The last two rows are textual information; skills and defects. The skills row describes a particular occupation that someone may bring to the table, whether it’s as a laborer, cook, or salesperson. The last row is a perceived or physical defect of a person. Like any commodity, enslaved persons are described in the context of being of workable value to a potential owner, therefore if someone is old, with child, or has a physical disability this is considered in the transaction entry. Read more

Project Proposal-Slave Sales 1775-1865

The data set I have chosen to use for my data analysis project is “Slave Sales 1775-1865”. The data included in this set includes, state and county in which a transaction took place and the gender and appraised value of an individual being sold from the Revolutionary period to the close of the Civil War and after emancipation. Other information included in this data set is skills and any physical “defect” found in a particular person. As far as types of data, there is numeric, text, and geographic information included, which makes this a particularly detailed study. The geographic landscape shown within the data places the transactions were recorded in southern states,a fact that is not surprising. This is a substantial set of data, with over 76,000 entries, so it will definitely require more narrowing of scope and number. I think that perhaps using a sample of just the 1810s-1860s, or maybe an even narrower range, perhaps 1850-1865 would be the project more cohesive.

Each column paints a particular picture of a time and place in the development of the institution of slavery in the south, and the literal human cost. Each of the rows plays an important role in forming the narrative of the dataset. From each state and county within the state, the people being bought and sold are described in the very simplest of terms, as they are no different than any other commodity bought and sold on a daily basis. We get an age, in years and months both and gender. We also know if any of these persons had special skills that could make them particularly more sought after. These include cooks and cabinetmakers, even drivers. Finally, the defects of a certain person are also recorded. Many are marked as “crippled” or old. Perhaps most interesting and disturbing is that “child” is considered a defect.

There are some relationships that come to the surface in analyzing this dataset. One that immediately comes to mind is that between skills and appraised value. It seems that those with skills did seem to be more expensive than someone who was unskilled, or perhaps a woman. Which brings another relationship worth exploring-the relationship between gender and appraised price. Did women necessarily fetch a much lower or a comparative price during sales transactions.
A third relationship that could yield interesting results and research questions is that between states and number of slave sales. In the south, did one state conduct more sales than others, or were they all near average? In looking at the data, the years and decades of the sales could also prove to show interesting conclusions. Of course a drop off in slave sales could be seen in during the Civil war, but what about before than. What sales were made during the early decades of the 1800s? I think that these relationships could effectively be shown graphically, but also using a progression map. By making this dataset interactive, the viewer can more effectively make use of the information presented.
Some difficulties that can arise when analyzing and answering these would probably come from the data itself. Though this is quite a large sample, it isn’t as detailed as other sets.There is only basic information available (ie. gender,age) that does not, on the surface create a well rounded narrative.I feel that information such as where these enslaved people came from or even a name could tell us more and create better visuals. Another difficulty is in the fact that some of the entries are missing, perhaps a problem of transcription or simply loss of records.

Text and Digital History

1.Movie NGrams
The first tool in this week’s reading was Bookworm Movies. Within these databases, a user can change the corpus of the search and view trends in areas such as dialogue in films based on text. In the accompanying blog post, “Sapping Attention”, the author uses Bookworm to view trends in language and the subject matter discussed in films. It is due to collections of metadata available in places such as IMDB, the writer contends, that allows users to better view trends. Metadata such as writer,director, and country of origin can give a more complete picture of trends in film.
This was actually a really fun page. Through this portal, a user can view trends in a variety of different subjects. Along with the Movie NGrams there is Vogue, babynames, and Rate My Professor, all popular web pages. This particular part of Bookworm is known as Culturomics,and focuses on content which would fit under mainly entertainment or popular culture. There are also other databases like OpenLibrary and US Congress hold trends in government and literature.

3.Historic Newspaper NGrams
This NGram is in the same vein as the Culturomics databases. It shows a very large example of historic newspapers (7m texts, 212 billion words). The default search criteria, “bicycle” showed a rise in the mention of this form of transportation in the mid-1890s. When you click on the line on the graph, you can view both the frequency within a particular year and also the text.

4.Mining the Dispatch
This piece focuses on the Richmond newspaper, the Dispatch, and its significance in uncovering the Confederate capital during the tumultuous years of the Civil War. Historian Kenneth Noe contends that although it was the center of much political and social change, much about Richmond during these years is relatively unknown.This particular text project, “Mining the Dispatch” aims to open up the conversation about this time and place by using text. The time frame used in this database is from Lincoln’s election in 1860 to the evacuation of the City in 1865. This collection encompasses 24 million words in 12,000 pieces. This system uses Topic Modeling, a process that uses statistics to categorize texts and form patterns from them. Through software called MALLET, the program collects specific numbers of topics from documents using algorithms to display patterns. A topic is defined in this piece as “a group of words that are likely to appear together in the document”(“Mining”). The author uses slavery as a topic example and a model basis. Through graphs, two aspects of data can be discovered, thematic, through relative space occupied graphs, and generic, which is shown through graphs that count the number of articles where “proportion is above the specified level”(“Dispatch”).

5.NYT Chronicle
This NGram focuses on the records of the New York Times, and uses keyword searches to show trends within the content of the written works from 1860 to the present. I used the examples of slavery, civil rights, and Jim Crow, after reading the “Mining the Dispatch” piece and was interesting to see the trends and their correspondence to the time periods included within the data. For example, there was a rise in the mention of Civil Rights around the 1960s.

Voyant is a Text tool that allows the user to insert a page into the reader, where patterns are created from the given information. I uploaded a reading from another class and began messing around with the program. The user can click on any word in the document, and it will show the frequency of that word in the piece. The program also gives a brief summary of the corpus,giving frequency of unique words and the most frequently used words.

7. Getting Started With Voyant
This page is a user-friendly guide to using voyant. It show how to upload not just single pages, but HTML, XML, and PDF content. It then show she different skins shown within the program including the summary, cirrus(word cloud), and corpus reader. This piece also tells the reader how they can bookmark particular corpora, and export them unto sites such as blogs.

8.Comparing Corpora in Voyant
This particular piece shows how to upload corpora on voyant in order to compare patterns. It shows a step-by-step guide on how to export multiple corpora by saving one corpus and adding it to another example,by enabling the “difference” function. The end result is that one can view the comparison of word frequencies in both corpora.

Questions for Discussion
What are the benefits of using software such as voyant or bookworm in research? What are some difficulties?
How could these technologies strengthen the connections between the humanities and other fields?
Are these technologies the new frontier in research? Could they create new fields within historical practice?

Jewish Communities in Antebellum America

The journey of Jews in American history is a multifaceted, layered, and rich collection of experiences and individuals. Perhaps the most well known period of immigration, the late 1800s through the first decades of the nineteenth century, saw a wave of Jewish immigrants, many of them from Eastern Europe. This period is widely studied and debated within scholarship, and is key in understanding the Jewish experience in America, even in the twenty-first century. However, another wave of Jewish immigration which occurred during the antebellum period may tell us much more about Jewish community and tradition as it relates to Jews in the present-day.
In my research, I explored four different pieces of scholarship that deal with this specific moment in in the Jewish experience in the United states. Though unique in their execution of their particular subject matter, the historians behind these works paint a cohesive portrait of community,family,and identity.Thrust into a predominantly Protestant, Christian society, where the pressure of assimilation and antisemitism, American Jews created new traditions and cultural identities. Beyond the scope of culture and religious dogma they were able, even in small number, create a presence in business and other ventures that would nonetheless give them influence in American cities.The following will demonstrate the direction of recent scholarship of this particular period and shed light on the Jewish experience before the Civil War.
The first piece in my exploration was written by Harvard research fellow, Rowena Olegario and was featured in the Business History Review in the 1999 Summer issue. This was a unique essay because it dealt with Jewish influence on business throughout the nineteenth century, while also giving insight into the tight-knit, and often secretive Jewish communities in American urban centers. Her main argument is that Jews had an important impact on the nineteenth century American economy, while also maintaining less-than-transparent business transactions. In relating to the wider story of Jews in the United States, the author attributes the preservation of religious and cultural traditions that the isolation and marginalization of Jews in their European homelands led to isolated communities in the United States, thus continuing ancient traditions(Olegario,5). Olegario contends that in a still largely agricultural economy, Jews often migrated to larger cities, where their presence was often resented by city fathers and the upper class(Olegario,4). She than goes on to state that though their migration rates from 1840 to 1880 were quite small, Jews were nonetheless visible in the communities in which they chose to build their new lives, especially in the business sector(Olegario,5).
Jews seemed to be very aware of the public’s perception of them, and the stereotypes that they faced at every turn. Olegario states that antisemitism was more a product of larger cities than towns or western settlements. In many cities they were admitted to popular social groups and secret organizations such as the odd fellows and freemasons(Olegario,27). Beginning in the 1840s, a group of Jewish men had started an exclusively Jewish organization, the B’nai B’rith, built upon the rituals of American organizations, this was one way in which Jews created community in the United States.
Another condition of Jewish seemingly smooth assimilation into American society was the fact that Rabbis and organized religious bodies were a later addition to the Jewish experience (Olegario,27). In fact, the more secularized Jewish communities were less threatening to the Protestant status quo than other religious and cultural groups such as Roman Catholics, whose strict church social structure and ritual led Protestants to be more weary(Olegario,27-28). This is quite telling, since scholars often discuss the anti semitism,missionizing, and stereotypes attributed to Jews and that scholarship of struggle has been so pervasive especially following World War II.
A second piece deals with the changing scholarship of Jewish history, and includes a study of how historians are approaching the subject of Antebellum Jewish life. The author, Jonathan Sarna, writes his piece with the aim of informing scholars about the current state of Jewish historical scholarship and includes within his introduction a quantified graphic of how the number of articles written on the subject of Jewish American history has risen from just 175 publications in 1965 to 515 publications in 1989, a year before his piece was written (Sarna,1). In dealing with the antebellum period, Sarna contends that the 1840s and subsequent decades saw the most development within Jewish communities, due to a rise in immigration. Jew immigrated from all over Europe, but the greatest numbers during this period were from Germany, which prompted many historians to call this the “German Period”(Sarna,5).
In studying this timeframe, Sarna states that the most pressing questions facing historians is how Jews viewed themselves and their communities. Many historians, Sarna contends, have chosen to focus on the German aspect of this relationship of a people to their religion and culture(Sarna,6). Exploration into German-Jewish immigrants daily lives have shown that many participated in the wider Germanic community, thus showing a strong connection to their homeland, while still maintaining ties to their ethnic and religious traditions(Sarna,6). Another aspect of this time period that is important in recent scholarship concerning Jews in America is how they dealt with antisemitism and missionizing attempts. One conclusion that historians have come to is that Jews, even when they were assimilated into American society felt that they were also denied an equal standing among their fellow, Christian citizens (Sarna,6). Beyond cultural acceptance, religion is also undoubtedly one of the most important studies of recent academics. Sarna states in his work that scholars were beginning to delve deeper into the Synagogue, its place in the community and the importance of ritual and myth in Jewish religious practice(Sarna,7-8).
A third piece,written by historian Bobbie Malone, deals with a specific group and place, but nonetheless shows the continuity of scholarship concerning this period of Jewish-American history. Featured in the Journal of the Louisiana Historical Society Malone focusses this narrative on the Jews of uptown New Orleans, particularly the Congregation of the Gates of Prayer. By studying the minutes of this Synagogue, historians have made strides in understanding and interpreting the lives of Jews in a large, urban center. This particular congregation was founded in the 1820s by a wealthy Jewish businessman from New York who upon his visit was compelled to establish a synagogue because he could find no matzo for his passover celebration(Malone,5). The fact that the minutes of the Gates of Prayer were first written in German show that German Jews were settling in the southern cities as much as in the northern ones(Malone,8). It also shows that scholarship continues to focus on the “German Period” mentioned by Jonathan Sarna in the article previously discussed.
Their new lives in a new country was also molded by their experience in a predominantly Protestant nation. Many sought to just gain the economic means to survive and establish businesses. Because of this, Malone contends, many Jews during this period were not entirely concerned with Jewish law(Malone,12). As a result, reform Judaism began to grow in popularity. A reaction to increased conflict between American and Jewish cultural norms, Reform Judaism was less stringent and allowed Jews to function more seamlessly in their day to day lives in the United States(Malone,12-13). In this was, scholarship can focus on this fact as it relates to present-day reform Judaism and the part in plays in the lives of Jewish-Americans.
The fourth article dealing with this particular scholarship deals with a unique experience amongst Jewish immigrants in America in the nineteenth century. In “Between Vision and Reality:reassessing Jewish agricultural projects in nineteenth century America”, author Tobias Brinkmann, a professor and historian of Jewish studies, demonstrates how Jews formed communities and created ties that would allow them to be successful in their new homeland. In his piece, Brinkmann tells the story found in much scholarship of the time and subject. Jews, though making up a relatively small group immigrated to the United States. Once they arrived,many resorted to becoming peddlers, a fact that made many established American Jews nervous over how their people would be viewed by other Americans. It was because of this that the idea of a settlement for peddlers to be formed in the west was first proposed. The settlement, which was to be founded in Chicago, would go on to form the basis of what would be the larger Jewish community in the Chicago area(Brinkmann,4).
William Renau is credited with forming this community in the early 1840s,this area would soon be called Schaumberg,and today makes up part of Chicago’s suburban center. One of the main driving factors in the formation of this and other communities like it was the emancipation of Jews in Central Europe, another argument that can figure strongly in present-day scholarship(Brinkmann,310). Brinkmann also contends that another motive for these communities was a desire to knock stereotypes that were pervading American cities(Brinkmann,311). It demonstrates how Jews, more than anyone were aware of just how important it was to assimilate in many ways to be able to “make it” in America. Though many of these communities proved to be failures, the ideas and message they demonstrate cannot be overlooked. The creation of these settlements shows a clear attempt by Jews to empower each other in a time where their entire world was evolving. Agricultural settlements are just another example of the creation of bonds of community that are still so important to Jewish-Americans today.
How the Jewish story is interpreted in America is evolving even in the last decades, as evidenced in the scholarship above. As history and the humanities as a whole come to a crossroads, the way we interpret and do history is also constantly changing. In a time of academic crisis, historians are trying to make sense of recent developments and are trying to pay close attention to stories or narratives that perhaps were never fully explored or given full attention. Like womens or black history, I feel Jewish history has been seen as a neglected history, or one that leaves much out in favor of studying one event or aspect of Jewish cultural or religious practice. What these four essays demonstrate is that the Jewish-American identity is something that is not so simple to understand;in fact is as abstract and complex as any idea of social, cultural, or religious identity is.
Recent scholarship, more than anything perhaps, has shed light on how Jews viewed themselves within their wider communities, and even amongst their own families or congregations. Their story is filled with both struggle and progress, as their world changed from Orthodox European communities to more secularized reform ones in America. For scholars, I believe that is important to understand how Jews viewed themselves, and I think that this could be the direction further inquiries into this particular subject take.
The nineteenth century was a time defined by the changing tides of society, industry, and demography. America was moving from an agricultural to a more industrial economic system. Cities were growing up from small towns,and immigrants were taking their own piece of these communities and making history in their new land. Jews were coming from Central Europe, a region still marred by ethnic prejudice and ancient anti semitic feelings. Though they faced prejudice in the United States, it was there that they were able to form their own unique community bonds, own successful businesses, and participate in organizations that in Europe would more likely than not be closed to them. This moment in history shaped how Jews live and share their cultural and religious heritage today, in a country where their numbers are greater and their lives more visible than in the 1840s or 1850s. That being said, I think that the scholarship concerning this time period can still evolve and uncover more about this people steeped in rich history and looking towards the future.

Brinkmann, Tobias. “Between Vision and reality:reassessing Jewish Agricultural Colony Projects in Nineteenth Century America”.Jewish History,21 no.¾(2007):305-324.
Malone,Bobbie. “New Orleans Uptown Jewish Immigrants the Community of the Congregation Gates of Prayer,1850-1860”. Louisiana History:the Journal of the Louisiana Historical Society,32 no.3(1991):239-278.
Olegario, Rowena. “That Mysterious People” Jewish Merchants, Transparency, and Community in Mid-nineteenth Century America”. The Business History Review,73 no. 2(1999):161-189.
Sarna, Jonathan D. “American Jewish History”. Modern Judaism,10 vol.3 (1990):343-365.


The first chart is a histogram of the sum of the kinds of industry.It clearly illustrates that the clothing industry was very active in the City of Albany in 1850. In the second chart,a column graph, there is a definite conclusion-that men made up the majority of the workforce in most industries during this time, and were even the only gender present in certain places of work. The third chart, a pie graph, shows the counta of each of the industries, with Household work making up the largest percentage. In the last chart, a scatter plot, womens vs. mens wages is show.The conclusion made from this last graph is that men made significantly more than women even in many of the same jobs, along with the column chart illustrates the gender inequality of this period, most visibly in the scant earnings women made compared to men.
One aspect of working with this data is the gaps within some of the information. Of course with records that are sometimes illegible or have some kind of error, the data is not going to be completely indicative of the survey. That said, perhaps there was some data left out that could have made a more powerful statement. Of course the most glaring is the general lack of women workers in the data. There are some, but it is positively overwhelmed by the amount of male workers. I feel that if more information was gathered,than the data and the charts could have proven more enlightening to the story behind this industrial census. Also, at times, it seems like no real relationships could be seen from the data I was uncovering. It seemed that finding the median and sum was only contributing to finding numerical accounts of history, rather than personal and meaningful. The mathematical practice of plugging numbers into a formula was redundant at times. Only after generating the different kinds of charts did I truly see the fruits of my labor. By finding the median,counta,and sum, I was only adding to the narrative that the original information had began.
The pie chart and the histogram are easy to read because they are from the more complete data sets and they also include a lot less information than the other charts. The two others, the column and scatterplot are more complicated because they have to do with the strong inequalities between men and women in Albany’s 1850 workforce. The column in particular is completely jumbled and nearly impossible to read and decipher. The pie chart is meant to express the number of shops in each industry, while the histogram represents the number of workers in each industry. The column chart indicates the relationship between the number of men and women in each industry, while scatterplot shows the relationship between the wages of men and women in 1850. All in all, it can be said that business in Albany, with the data given, was a male-dominated world. I feel that with more exploration, perhaps a more complete story can be told. Perhaps more information could be found that gives women a more expanded role in commerce at this time.

Walking Tour


For my walking tour, I would like to focus on the Jewish community in Albany prior to the Civil War. This tour will focus on Synagogues,Businesses, and other sites important to telling the story of Albany’s Jews prior in the Antebellum period.

Temple Beth-El Jacob (original building at 28 Fulton St.)

Temple Beth-El Jacob  Herkimer st  c 1910  albany ny

2nd Bethel Synagogue (76 Herkimer St.)

Temple Beth-Emeth

Temple beth Emeth Lancaster and jay  early 1900s  albany ny




1st Bethel Synagogue(166 Bassett St.)

1st Anshe Emeth Synagogue (77 S. Ferry St.)


Workbook Tableau -Albany Synagogues