Norman's chart of the lower Mississippi River explained

Norman's chart of the lower Mississippi River is a historically significant map produced in 1858 of landmarks, roads, ferry crossings, and plantations along the course of the Mississippi River from Natchez to New Orleans.^{[1] [2]} Cotton and sugar plantations are color-coded with distinct colors. The lithographic map is based on cartography by Marie Adrien Persac. The map was printed by longtime New Orleans bookseller Benjamin Moore Norman.^[3]

As one historian wrote, "At the time Norman's chart was published, the sugar coast stood prominently at the center of political power in Louisiana. Persac's inclusion of planters' names allows the viewer to navigate his chart as a map of concentrated power."^[4] Persac sailed the river in a skiff to collect information for the map, stopping frequently to inquire about names of plantations and plantation owners.^[5] According to Reconstructing the Landscapes of Slavery (2021), "It has the effect of a promenade along the river, displaying the bounty of nature transformed into capitalist wealth. This corridor was the nation's leading producer of cotton and sugar and had the densest slave population in the country. It was reputed to be home to more millionaires than anywhere else in the United States."

See also

• Lloyd's Steamboat Directory

Further reading

• Rolston, Joyce Nelson, and Stanton, Anne G. Historical Maps of Louisiana: An Annotated Bibliography. United States, Geoscience Publications, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, 1999.

External links

• Web site: East & West Banks of the Mississippi . The Great River Road Museum . en-US.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Norman's Chart of the Lower Mississippi River . 2023-12-13 . Encyclopedia Virginia . en-US.
2. Web site: Norman's Chart of the Lower Mississippi River . 2023-12-13 . 64 Parishes . en.
3. Web site: Norman's chart of the lower Mississippi River . 2023-12-13 . Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
4. Book: Chamberlain, Charles D. III . VanHuss . Laura Kilcer . https://books.google.com/books?id=W4kEEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22norman%27s+chart+of+the+lower+mississippi+river%22&pg=PT87 . Charting the Plantation Landscape from Natchez to New Orleans . 2021 . LSU Press . 978-0-8071-7572-9 . en . Severed Heads to Statehouse: The Political Landscape of the Sugar Coast .
5. Book: Tomich . Dale W. . https://books.google.com/books?id=P8_9DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22norman%27s+chart+of+the+lower+mississippi+river%22&pg=PA23 . Reconstructing the Landscapes of Slavery: A Visual History of the Plantation in the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World . Monzote . Reinaldo Funes . Fornias . Carlos Venegas . Marquese . Rafael de Bivar . 2021 . UNC Press Books . 978-1-4696-6313-5 . 23 . en . Chapter 1. The Lower Mississippi Valley Cotton Frontier.