Comments on The Vigorous North: The Black Belt: How Soil Types Determined the 2008...

The TN/AL line is likely a lower slave concentrati...

2010-05-10T18:28:01.460-04:00

The TN/AL line is likely a lower slave concentration area. The more concentrated slave holdings would point towards the classic latifunda perception of slavery. The TN/AL area would point to small holdings where the slave supplemented white labor, and post-war these more equal numbers would be more readily diluted.

Big Media could never figure this out... and even ...

2010-05-04T13:52:29.487-04:00

Big Media could never figure this out... and even if they could, they wouldn't report it. Great work.

That is some pretty strong environmental determini...

2010-01-05T15:32:23.900-05:00

That is some pretty strong environmental determinism you're preaching there.

Very interesting. I wonder what's going on at ...

2010-01-03T11:51:34.783-05:00

Very interesting. I wonder what's going on at that border between Tennessee and Alabama, where there's a cluster of cotton production, but no blue counties.

Very informative- I had my suspicions and you put ...

2009-07-17T16:33:35.188-04:00

Very informative- I had my suspicions and you put them to rest!

In response to Bidisha's question, yes, the blue c...

2009-02-07T19:08:00.000-05:00

In response to Bidisha's question, yes, the blue county profile is there for presidential elections preceding the 2008 election. You can see that from Presidential Election Maps by County for each election from 2008 back to the original civil rights era of the 1960s. It's especially clear for 1999 through 2008.

Basically, the political story is that the rural south votes heavily Republican, except for black voters. And those voters are only present in large percentages in America's rural counties in a single place: the historic Black Belt of rich black soil where cotton was intensively cultivated.

Russell Renka
Professor of Political Science (and friend of Allen Gathman)
Southeast Missouri State University

I wonder what would happen if data for tobacco pro...

2009-01-16T12:24:00.000-05:00

I wonder what would happen if data for tobacco production, another labor-intensive activity that was widespread in 1860 and depends on fertile soil, were added to the cotton-production overlay map. Would the resulting dots extend into the now-empty blue counties in the Carolinas and Virginia?

love your blog good stuff

2008-12-24T18:06:00.000-05:00

love your blog good stuff

Fascinating. Did this blue voting crescent also oc...

2008-12-10T03:07:00.000-05:00

Fascinating. Did this blue voting crescent also occur in previous presidential election years?

This is Cultural Geography. Lots of geographers h...

2008-11-26T12:22:00.000-05:00

This is Cultural Geography. Lots of geographers have known and written about this for years. This is nothing new. For further understanding, read work by Gerald Webster, political geographer, formerly at U of Alabama, now at Wyoming, and Jonathan Leib, Old Dominion University.
Again, this is nothing new.

Search under: cultural geography, political geography and Black Belt.

Cotton provides a sufficient explanation for the c...

2008-11-23T16:46:00.000-05:00

Cotton provides a sufficient explanation for the crescents in Alabama and along the Mississippi but I don't know that that it's the story behind the eastern line of Obama counties.

We're looking at the edge of an ancient sea, to be sure; we're looking at a break in elevation.

It's the fall line.

The line of Obama counties up through Georgia and the Carolinas doesn't correspond particularly closely with cotton production. It does, however, trace the the commercial centers and mill towns that sprang up along the fall line, and that flourished in the latter half of the 19th century.

I have to say that this is pretty darn cool. I nev...

2008-11-21T15:12:00.000-05:00

I have to say that this is pretty darn cool. I never would have thought to look at things like this.

weather also played a role: african dust often rea...

2008-11-21T09:19:00.000-05:00

weather also played a role: african dust often reaches north america, bringing with it african seeds.

those familiar plants enabled slaves to survive, even thrive after the end of the trade.

Thanks very much, both for giving me credit and fo...

2008-11-21T08:52:00.000-05:00

Thanks very much, both for giving me credit and for all the additional information and insights you've provided. The Cretaceous shoreline really makes the story!

Geology. History. Politics... Fascinating perspect...

2008-11-20T17:30:00.000-05:00

Geology. History. Politics... Fascinating perspective! Thx.

Very interesting and insightful! Thanks for the re...

2008-11-20T07:58:00.000-05:00

Very interesting and insightful! Thanks for the research.

Found you at Strange Maps...not that I'm any sort ...

2008-11-19T18:51:00.000-05:00

Found you at Strange Maps...not that I'm any sort of expert, but I'm in the region (Louisiana/Baton Rouge)--as you travel into the politically red areas, it's also literally red, as river sediments give way to red clay. My guess is that the red dirt isn't nearly as good for farming.

Unreal post. Thank you. Why I keep coming back to ...

2008-11-19T11:33:00.000-05:00

Unreal post. Thank you. Why I keep coming back to your blog even though I'm no longer in Portland.