Ethnic United States since the Civil War

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Michael Trotti
History Department
412 Muller
 (607)274-1591

Not Venture E

Thank you to Stephen Sweet of the IC Sociology Department
for this assignment, which he was generous enough to share with me.

 

This is an exploration into race, geography, and income. Using data from the 2000 Census via a web link, you'll compile some information on income and race. In class, we will be discussing these different pieces of evidence, so you will want to either create a hand-written chart with columns for the different locations and rows for income brackets and racial categories, or to do it in an Excel file, a Word table, or whatever. I won't be taking up anything from you, but you'll want the information.

But the point is to explore how varied these factors are over space. Look at both income and race (instructions are below) for at least these first three places; others optional:

              1. The United States overall
              2. Your home county
              3. Tunica County, Mississippi

Optional: Tompkins County, NY(here); Bennett County, SD; and/or Orange County, CA

 

Getting the Data

Go to CensusScope by clicking here. This will open a separate page, and you can toggle back and forth to these directions.

I. U.S. Data

A. In the Charts & Trends section, click on "income". This brings up a pie chart and a table with a breakdown of national percentages in different income categories. The pie chart gives you some awkward visual sense of the data on income, but it is the table of 2000 data, below the chart, which is of the most help. Take down the figures in some fashion so that you can compare them with the other places you'll look up.

B. In the "Census Trend Charts" on the left, switch to "Population by Race". This brings up another figure (hard to measure) and, more helpfully, a table at the bottom. Again, take down the 2000 figures in some fashion so that you can compare them with the other places you'll look up.

 

II. County Data

Continue compiling the income and race data for each counties. To get to them, choose a state in the "Change Location" box to the left and click "View Chart". Then choose a county and again click the "View Chart" button. You can then check the income and race data for the county just as you did above.

The "Zoom Out" button takes you in the other direction -- to the state and then national data again, so that you can get to the next state/county to investigate.

 

Interpreting the Data

Data does not itself present conclusions -- we need to interpret it, which is an active undertaking. We'll be trying to figure out just what connections are most important and telling in the data. To start us out, come into class having done the following:

  1. Circle (or draw connecting lines between, or whatever) the differences you find in each table that you've compiled that you feel are distinctive and important.
  2. Write a brief note to yourself in the margins (or wherever -- this is for you) on the distinctions that you have found, and what this data tells us about geography, income, race, and America. Feel free to consider both what you find but also what else you would like to know about the county that would make the date more revealing.
  3. Come to class ready to discuss the variety that is the American experience.

 

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This website is occasionally maintained by Michael Trotti.
(Last update: 22 April 2009).