Week 8 Lab Assignment

I found the map of the Black population in the continental United States to be the most interesting of all the population maps for several reasons. First of all, the majority of the Black population is in the South, primarily Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina. This is very significant because it shows a trend that can also be found in the other population maps. This trend shows that in general, the population does not stray far from its area of immigration. However, in the case of African-Americans, immigration is not the correct word, as they were brought to the United States as slaves (primarily the South) against their will and were viciously exploited by White Americans so that the cotton industry could flourish. This map is a geographical depiction as well a reminder of some of the darkest times in the history of the United States.

Although the map of the Asian population in the continental United States is not as revealing as the Black population, it still shows a trend of staying close to the area of immigration. For example, Hawaii, the state with the largest Asian population is the highest for two reasons. First is its geographical position and how close it is to Asia, and could be though of as a stepping stone to the U.S, and second, because of the booming sugar cane industry and need for workers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The next step, and for many the only logical option for Asian-Americans was the west coast of the U.S. The majority of Asian immigrants passed through Angel Island in San Francisco, California and as the map shows, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Alameda Counties all have very high Asian populations. The west coast of the United States clearly has the largest Asian Population.

A somewhat similar trend can be observed with what the Census Bureau has called “Some Other” population, which I assume to be the Hispanic population for a number of reasons. First of all, the highest concentrations of the population appears to be in the American Southwest, in the regions bordering Mexico like California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. It can also be observed that the population tends to be higher in agricultural areas. For example, in California there is a large population of  “Some Other” in Imperial, Kern, Tulare, Kings, Merced and Madera Counties, which are heavily agricultural. Similar to the Black and Asian populations, the “Some Other” population is more dense in the areas that are closer to the points of immigration; for Hispanics in the Southwest, for Asians in Hawaii and the Pacific Coast, and for African-Americans, the South. I feel that it will take several more decades for populations to become dispersed more evenly throughout the United States.