How the Public Domain Has Been Squandered. Map showing the 139,403,026 acres of the people's land -- equal to 871,268 farms of 160 acres each. Worth a $2 an acre, $278,806,052, given by Republican Congresses to Railroad Corporations. This is more land than is contained in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.
- Title:
- How the Public Domain Has Been Squandered. Map showing the 139,403,026 acres of the people's land -- equal to 871,268 farms of 160 acres each. Worth a $2 an acre, $278,806,052, given by Republican Congresses to Railroad Corporations. This is more land than is contained in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.
- Alternate Title:
- How The Public Domain Has Been Squandered
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Democratic Party
- Date:
- 1884
- Posted Date:
- 2015-08-25
- ID Number:
- 1088.01
- File Name:
- PJM_1088_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1870 - 1899
- Subject:
- Deception/Distortion
Railroads
Politics & Government - Measurement:
- 60 x 42 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- A campaign poster from the 1884 Presidential election, between the Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland and the Republican, Senator James G. Blaine. The campaign is remembered primarily for "Ma, Ma, Where's My Pa?," about Cleveland's illicit child, and the assertion by a Blaine supporter that the Democrats were the party of "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion." In line with these attacks, the Democrats focused much of their attention on Blaine's character, particularly his alleged sale of favors for railroad companies.
This poster purports to show the area of land grants to railroads; it was taken from an official government publication (see ID #2001.01). The map conveys the message of excessive land grants in a particularly effective way, and as such, it was republished for more than 60 years. See, e.g., ID #1175 (1914 Socialist tract); ID #2038 (1936 textbook); ID #2032 (Morison & Commager, The Growth of the American Republic, 1942).
It was only in 1945 that the map was shown to be deceptive. In the first place, the shaded area covers about four times the number of acres stated in the accompanying text. Henry 1945, 178. Second, land grants were made in a checkerboard pattern, so that the railroad received alternate sections, that is, only half of the land within the grant limits (normally 6-10 miles from the line). The 1884 map counted all land within the grant limits, thus doubling the size of the apparent grant. Third, if a section granted to the railroad had previously been disposed of or reserved for public purposes, the railroad was entitled to a like amount of land from a wider, contiguous zone (sometimes 15-20 miles or more beyond the grant limits). These broader "indemnity limits" were counted entirely in the 1884 map, although they were only contingency grants, to replace land otherwise not available. Finally, the map fails to account for lands forfeited or never actually granted for practical reasons (Ibid. 174-77).
The effect of the deception was massive. The 1884 map showed railroad grants amounting to 90 percent of the State of Iowa; the real number was 13 percent. In Michigan the numbers were 75 percent and 9; in Wisconsin, 68 and 10. Where the original map showed the railroads were granted 38 percent of the nation's land, the real number was 9.5 percent, essentially all of it west of the Mississippi (Ibid. 194) A comparison of the 1884 map to the accurate map of land grants actually received by the railroads is striking testimony to the effectiveness of persuasive cartography (Ibid. 180, reprinted in Jenson 1975, 118-19).
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 - Repository:
- Private Collection of PJ Mode
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.