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Showing posts from February, 2017

The Slave Trade and Hurricanes

The Slave Trade was responsible for the cruel and unfair imprisonment of millions of people over the course of its existence. People were snatched from their homes and swiftly put on boats to work for cruel people in an unfamiliar environment for no pay. Regarding the slaves as a people, this is a perfect example of relocation diffusion using the Atlantic Ocean as a permeable barrier. It may be involuntary relocation, but relocation nonetheless. The Dutch also encouraged some cultural mobility in the form of hierarchical diffusion. Ideas from the Dutch spread through the leadership downward. Both sides whether unknowingly or knowingly, were receiving and giving bits of their own culture to others.

Comparing Rice Fields

In this post I explored the many similarities and differences between the rice coasts of both the Eastern coast of North America and the Western "Rice Coast" of Northern Africa. In the reading by Judy Carney, it is proposed that it's quite possible for black slaves to have brought rice farming along with them from their home. Upon examining a few of the rice fields from both locations I've noticed a few similarities. One is that both of these rice fields operate on estuaries where salt water and fresh water meet. Some fields in North America look like the older fields found on the "Rice Coast," but I've found that they most of the time look a bit different. For example, almost all fields in North America have some sort of general polygon shape to them, but the majority of the ones I observed in Africa did not exist in really any discernible shape, but more of a geometric pattern. They are also bigger most of the time. In my findings, I would assume th...

Dividing Dixie

For this assignment I divided the Dixie region into 4 unique sub-regions. Cajun Country consists mostly of Louisiana with some spillover into neighboring states. It's defined by its food, music, and other aspects of culture. The Gulf Coast sub-region is neighboring the Gulf of Mexico and therefore has a big marine influence on its culture. Football Mania is defined by its residents' love, and sometimes obsession, of football. Mountain Country is obviously a very mountainous region and its culture reflects that with its unique style of music and rhetoric.

DixieRegion

Garreau was spot on in his estimation of the rough border of the Dixie region. The idea of Dixie is one that many people can identify with positively and proudly. Therefore it's not surprise that people from the region are the ones that use the name in their businesses the most. People from Dixie are generally thought to be warm and hospitable, so when people use the name "Dixie" in their business name, other people from Dixie are probably more inclined to want to go there. This might also explain why outliers in places as far away as Canada are using the Dixie name to attract customers. As far as the empirical data we are using for this map, I believe it's very accurate to say that these "Dixie Automotive" businesses very closely model the proposed Dixie border. I think other empirical data that we could study to model the Dixie border could be political party affiliation or maybe BBQ food restaurants.