Die Zukunft Amerika's durch die Demokratie: Eine Uebersicht der Freien, Sklaven= und zur Sklaverei bestimmten Staaten [America’s Future Through Democracy–An Overview of the Free, Slaves, and Slavery for the States to be Determined.]
- Title:
- Die Zukunft Amerika's durch die Demokratie: Eine Uebersicht der Freien, Sklaven= und zur Sklaverei bestimmten Staaten [America’s Future Through Democracy–An Overview of the Free, Slaves, and Slavery for the States to be Determined.]
- Alternate Title:
- America's Future Through Democracy
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- John C. Fremont Campaign
- Date:
- 1856
- Posted Date:
- 2015-08-25
- ID Number:
- 1059.01
- File Name:
- PJM_1059_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1800 - 1869
- Subject:
- Deception/Distortion
Unusual Projection
U.S. Civil War
Unusual Graphics/Text
Slavery/Race - Measurement:
- 29 x 34 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This German-language map warning of the expansion of slavery into the west appears in a German-language pamphlet published in Pennsylvania in support of John Fremont in the 1856 Presidential election campaign. For more about the background and importance of the Fremont campaign map, see ID #2132, "Reynolds's Political Map of the United States Designed to Exhibit the Comparative Area of the Free and Slave States and the Territory open to Slavery or Freedom by the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise" (1856). The collection includes six examples of the Fremont campaign map, all dated 1856: ID #2132 (the Reynolds map poster), ID #1058 (handbill with map), ID #1059 (folding map in German), ID #2101 (pamphlet with map), ID #2199 (pamphlet with map), and ID #2264 (biography with map).
"This was just one of several anti-slavery maps printed during the campaign, all of which pointed to the grave consequences of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. . . . In this case, the Republicans were appealing to the large population of German-speaking voters (and future voters), a group of new citizens that would have been overwhelmingly opposed to slavery even though they identified with the Democratic Party." (Schulten 2014a).
The second text block on the right repeats the message of the pamphlet in which the map was published: “To the Freemen of the North . . . Will you study this map of your country? Will it convince you how little area is reserved for free labor, how much is occupied by the curse of slavery? Look at the facts as they appear here. These pictures speak for themselves. You do not need a long explanation to understand the power of slavery to seize this vast country, and where slavery has advanced, freedom has fallen back. . . .” (Translation ibid).
Like other maps from the Fremont campaign, this one uses several techniques found in persuasive cartography. The grey tone of the "Coveted Territories" is very close to the black of the slave states, giving the impression that slavery has already (or nearly) arrived in the Territories. The text on the map describes the existing unfairness of congressional representation and postal expenditures, both favoring the slave states. Mexico (including Lower California) and Cuba are shaded in the same tone as the Territories, artificially enlarging the area "at risk." And the top of the map is tilted slightly away from the viewer, foreshortening the size of the Northern free States and enlarging those in the south.
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- An Die Demokraten von Pennsylvania
- Repository:
- Private Collection of PJ Mode
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.