1718 – 1820 Louisiana Slave Database
SOWK 300 Computer Applications in the Social Sciences Fall 2010
Samuel R. Morris TTH-02
Introduction
Historically, slavery was a huge
commodity that helped America develop into
the country that it is today. This project will
look at the life of slaves that lived within the
Louisiana area. Moreover, it will examine
numerous aspects, i.e., Gender, Origin, and
Regions, of the numerous slaves that lived in
this area. From the data gathered, I hope to
gain a better perspective about this one act in
our nation’s history.
Graph 1
Based on the data, 39.22% of the slaves
were women while 50.79% of the slaves were
men. Because some of the data was missing,
9.99% that was reported missing could be
either male or female. These findings were very
unusual to me because based on historical
facts, I thought there were more female slaves
than male slaves. One can only conclude that
men were more valuable to the slave owners
for various reasons. I believe that the slave
owners wanted more male slaves because of
their strength and endurance.
Graph 2
The graph above shows the different origins of the
slaves that were in the Louisiana area. One thing that
was very surprising is that 62.2% of the slaves are from
and unknown origin. Another thing that was surprising is
that slaves that had an African origin only comprised of
24.2%. Slaves who had origins came from Creoles, the
Caribbean, Anglo or Indians reported numbers less than
10%.
Graph 1 Graph 2
Graph 3
Based on the data, 30.5% of the slaves were taken
from the region of Senegambia while 18.7% of the slaves
came from Central Africa. Moreover, 24.6% of the
slaves were Africans only .6% of the slaves came from an
unidentified nation. The data also shows that only .4%
came from the Gold Coast and .5% came from
Mozambique – these places are popular countries on the
African continent.
Conclusion
This one act within our history has plagued
our existence for centuries, but rather than
covering up the origins and facts about these
slaves, we should share it with the world – and
that is what this database has done. Moreover,
the data allowed me to “walk down memory
lane” understanding the life and times that
these slaves lived in. Slaves had a very hard
life and the data gathered through this research
has allowed me to better understand that world.
Graph 3
References
1. 1718 – 1820 Louisiana Slave Database