Mapping Occupation, Juneteenth

The way in which the history of the Civil War was told in the years to follow was varied and often skewed. The Army's role, central to shaping the development of civil rights following the war, is often misunderstood, misrepresented or altogether forgotten. Luckily, our modern day historians have done their best to help put together a more accurate picture of what happened and why. Known as the "Mapping Occupation" project, this digital, interactive data set is a newly designed tool that helps tell a more complete story about the Civil War. The project is a part of the Digital Humanities Initiative at the Willson Center and the UGA libraries and is led by our very own Scott Nesbit, an assistant professor int he Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Environment and Design here at UGA. His fellow partner in authoring and directing the project is Gregory P. Down, an associate professor at City College an the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. 

As their project explains:

After former rebels and Southern-sympathizing historians of the early 20th century created wildly exaggerated tales of “bayonet rule” by the U.S. Army, scholars over the last half century have worked to undercut those myths and legends.  But in the process, many of the best works of history have dismissed the idea that there was a significant occupation of the South; instead they, understandably but inaccurately, often portray the government during Reconstruction through the much-smaller and weaker Freedmen’s Bureau.  

Even basic data about where the Army was, in what quantities, and with what types of troops has been difficult to find. This project utilizes the first-ever thorough dataset of the Army's presence both to argue for the Army's importance and to provide information for other historians and students to advance new interpretations about the multi-sided battle for control on the ground in the South between freedpeople, ex-rebels, white loyalists, and the federal government.

Mapping Occupation reorients our understanding of the Reconstruction that followed Confederate surrender by presenting new views of southern political space.  It argues that U.S. power existed where the government could enforce its laws through the Army.  Army installations formed the centers of patchwork zones of occupation.  These zones were linked and extended by the southern rail network as the Army responded to political pressure and events on the ground. Mapping Occupation also visualizes the more limited areas from which black southerners could reach soldiers, highlighting the unequal geography of the Army and the civilians who used it to assert their rights. Viewers can use these maps as a guide through a complex period, a massive data source, and a first step in capturing the federal government's new reach into the countryside. 

Historians today aim to tell a full story, using all the tools at their disposal and this project is just one way that our history department continues to fulfill the task at hand. Nesbit is no stranger to this concept, as he previously created a digital interactive project called "Visualizing Emancipation," which used a wide array of sources such as military correspondence, slave advertisements from newspapers and many other primary documents to visually map out just where and when emanicipation took place. The "Mapping Occupation" project, appropriate as we think about the meaning of Juneteenth this weekend, is equally deserved in dissecting our past. In celebration of this day, please visit the project and take yourself on an exploration of events and people in time. 

To explore more visual humanities projects at UGA visit: http://digi.uga.edu/