A novel view of 18th and 19th century world trade
In a high school history class, students learn about the transatlantic slave trade through dull textbook readings, but never is what is happening to trade in the rest of the world talked about. This map uses US ship logs from the Maury Collection to display thousands of paths overlaid to show an outline of trade throughout the world at the time.
The most immediately salient features are the strong ties between North America, South America, and Africa. This reflects the triangular Atlantic trade where slaves where brought from Africa to South America where they harvested sugar. This sugar was then exported to North America where it was used to produce rum. The rum and other goods were sold to Africa, as well as Europe, completing the strong triadic closure between the three. North America also has a strong tie with England, so the weak tie that forms between England and Africa satisfies the strong triadic closure property.
Another noticeable feature is the large mass around the bottom of South America. The large number of expedition around this point justifies the need for the Panama Canal. One can also point out major cities, such as San Francisco on the east coast of the United States, London, New York, and Shanghai. Each of these ports represents a node, and each route connecting them is a link in the trade network. There is also a vague outline of Japan, which in a few decades will be forced out of isolation and become another major trader.
This visual representation of trade networks allows one to see history in a whole new light thanks to the meticulous recording of ship logs. With more and more data being recorded, visualizations are being a more popular way for one to understand the interconnectedness of our world.
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