By Jesse Aragona

Data Critique- My project begins with a tweak in my initial Data Critique, analyzing how best to interpret and use the data provided for my research needs. Revisiting the issues with the data set will provide a clear and concise lens through which I can view the rest of the project.

Data Cleaning- The main focus as far as cleaning is two fold for this project, narrowing the scope of the data set excluding information irrelevant to the United States and using the original formatting to decipher categories lost in translation to Google sheets is absolutely necessary for the completion of this project.

Secondary Bibliography-

1)The Chattel Principle: Internal Slave Trades in the Americas by Walter Johnson

2)Quantitative Estimates of the United States Interregional Slave Trade, 1820-1860

3)Hidden in Plain Sight: Centering the Domestic Slave Trade in American Public History

4)Slave Trading in a New World: The Strategies of North American Slave Traders in the Age of Abolition

How closely can we trace the route from Africa to arrival at U.S. ports, and with how much accuracy can we find the final destinations of the enslaved? Did certain ships stick to certain routes, and if so how close can we come to obtaining national origins for the enslaved and their ancestors. How accurately can we map those journeys?

Goals- A map of voyages, hopefully expanding out from the initial port to separate destinations if possible. A cleaned representation of the data used, sheets provided representing the journeys and individuals shown on the map. Ideally the map will allow the reader to trace routes of individual voyages from the nation of origin to the point of departure, and further if more data can be adapted and used for that purpose. The project will also provide a significant explanation of the Internal United States Slave trade, including policies and methods.

Timeline- March 30th, Isolation of Data to be used as well as completed cleaning of said Data. April 3rd, rough draft of map as well as final data set exclusions and inclusions. April 9th, Rough Map of Voyages completed

Data Critique

The Evert Wendell account book data details the “fur” trade between Wendell and Canadians/Native Americans. The dates range from the late 1690s to the early 18^th century. Trade ranges from Canadians to people in the Catskill region in lower New York. This includes a variety of Native Americans such as the Seneca and Mohawk. It cannot describe the trade other than the details written down in Wendell’s account book. Those features, when translated into the spreadsheet, are as follows: name, male, female, gender, tribe, affiliation, date, trade good, fur, town, and the amount of fur/guilders received. This particular dataset includes about 1600 entries. Many of the names given are offered in relation to another person (i.e. mother of D’caiendanharij). This dataset was taken from Wendell’s account books and translated into a spreadsheet by Dr. Kane. It is divided for clarity, including three rows regarding gender. If this were my only source, I would lack the context of the trade itself that a secondary source could provide. Additionally, I might be lost on the geographic location of the trade, who Evert Wendell was, or what a marten was.