The Differences Slavery Made: A Close Analysis of Two American Communities

Politics, Franklin County, High Douglas Precincts in the 1860 Presidential Election

The high Douglas precincts were wealthier than the county average and more heavily invested in wheat.

High Douglas Districts
Douglas Vote Mean Household Wealth (in dollars) Median Household Wealth (in dollars) Mean Farm Value (in dollars) Median Farm Value (in dollars) Corn as a percent of Total Grain Wheat as a percent of Total Grain
County Average 8.4 5,892 2,200 7,314 6,000 34% 37%
Chambersburg, North Ward 31.4 4,255 1,100 7,226 7,000 32% 39%
Antrim 16.8 6,697 2,700 10,197 10,000 33% 40%
Guilford 22.8 8,270 7,650 9,349 7,000 35% 39%



The data are based on the GIS of Augusta and Franklin households--maps are derived from a D. H. Davison map of Franklin County, published in 1858, and a Jedediah Hotchkiss map of Augusta County, published in 1870, and based on surveys completed "during the war." The maps have been georeferenced at the Virginia Center for Digital History, using ESRI Arc Info to produce a Geographic Information Systems map and database of households based on U.S. census data from the population, agricultural, and slaveowners' schedules.

Note: Original precinct boundaries are not available. Precinct boundaries were established in the GIS using Thiessen polygons around precinct stations as central places.

Edward L. Ayers and William G. Thomas, III
Politics, Franklin County, High Douglas Precincts in the 1860 Presidential Election
2001.

Points of Analysis to this Data:

"In Franklin County, John Breckinridge won a majority in six precincts, most of them in the far northern and western belt of the county, where few blacks lived and farmers planted corn not wheat."

"Lincoln won sixteen precincts in Franklin, ten of them by margins greater than 55 percent, with support mainly from the urban center of the county and places with the highest numbers of black residents--even though black men could not vote in Pennsylvania."


Citation: Key = E130
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