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Source Description
Published as a campaign poster supporting the Republican Party's first presidential bid in 1856, this broadside provides a commentary on the geographical sectionalism that was polarizing the nation. Using 1850 census data, it tabulated the demographic and economic differences between free and slave states, highlighting political concerns that the balance of Congressional power would shift as newly acquired western territories were admitted as states into the Union. The map clearly marked the 1820 Missouri Compromise line, which had defined the boundary between free and slave states. However, the passage of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act nullified this long-standing compromise line, and potentially opened the entire western territory to slavery because it sanctioned “popular sovereignty“ whereby citizens of each territory could vote on the slavery issue.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
xg94j1990
label
Map of the United States, showing by colors the area of freedom and slavery, and the territories whose destiny is yet to be decided
core
obj
dtoType
map
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
xg94j1990
contentType
map
stage
normalized
title
Map of the United States, showing by colors the area of freedom and slavery, and the territories whose destiny is yet to be decided
description
Published as a campaign poster supporting the Republican Party's first presidential bid in 1856, this broadside provides a commentary on the geographical sectionalism that was polarizing the nation. Using 1850 census data, it tabulated the demographic and economic differences between free and slave states, highlighting political concerns that the balance of Congressional power would shift as newly acquired western territories were admitted as states into the Union. The map clearly marked the 1820 Missouri Compromise line, which had defined the boundary between free and slave states. However, the passage of the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act nullified this long-standing compromise line, and potentially opened the entire western territory to slavery because it sanctioned “popular sovereignty“ whereby citizens of each territory could vote on the slavery issue.
date
["[1856?]"]
year
1856
rights
No known copyright restrictions.
rightsUri
No known restrictions on use.
reuseAllowed
no restrictions
language
English
identifierLocal
06_01_006539
creators
Elliott, G. W.
institution
Boston Public Library
collections
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection
subjects
Slavery--United States--Maps
Discoveries in geography--American--Maps
United States--Discovery and exploration--Maps
United States--Maps
subjectsGeographic
North and Central America
United States
genreBasic
Maps
typeOfResource
Cartographic
country
United States
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
pageCount
1
source
import
pubPlace
New York
publisher
G.W. Elliott
Source extras
institutionArkId
sf268508b
collectionArkId
41688024w
schema:latitude
38
schema:longitude
-98
extent
1 map : hand col. ; 36 x 65 cm., on sheet 80 x 73 cm.
notes
Relief shown by hachures.
Hand colored.
Includes text, tables, ports., and decorative border.
hasTranscription
no
dcId
xg94j1990
type
map
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
a3842fefd37b96d6