Skip to main content

Using the geomnet Package: Visualizing African Slave Trade, 1514 - 1866,

Jan 21, 2016 - 4:15 PM
to , -

 

Using the geomnet Package: Visualizing African Slave Trade, 1514 - 1866

 

Date: Thursday, January 21
Time: 4:10 pm -- 5:00 pm
Place: Snedecor 1109
Speaker: Samantha Tyner, Department of Statistics, Iowa State U

Abstract:

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, hosted by Emory University, contains information on nearly 35,000 voyages of slave ships from 1514 - 1866 between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The entire database contains 279 variables with information on the 34,948 voyages. While the website dedicated to this data contains a dashboard to subset and visualize the data, I wanted to view the data in a new way. I use the geomnet package because I wanted to show that the user can visually explore the data in a way that leaves them with a deeper understanding of the structure of the slave trade. I start by visualizing all of the data I pulled from the database on one map, then I look at different subsets of it, and I end with a much deeper understanding of the slave trade and its impact on the world.