Experimenting with ArcGIS Online

For this week’s cost, I attempted to integrate the map from our second quiz into the online software. When I went to add my map to the new scene, it refused to appear in the available contents bar. After exploring the online platform for a few hours, searching the ArcGIS online FAQ section, and pleading with the software to work with me, I decided to explore the other layers available. I am considering the Civil War as the topic for my final project, so I mapped out state boundaries, as well as some of the war’s major battles, railways, and rivers.

As a side note, I was planning on including my comments within the ArcGIS online platform. I have included a link to my online project at the end of this post, but I continued to have technical issues while publishing the map I created. In case there are issues accessing it, I have included screenshots from the online portal with my comments in this traditional blog platform.

This first image is a screenshot of the entire map I created. The map includes the boundaries of the states–with shading that denotes their alignment during the Civil War. The blue lines denote rivers, black lines are the contemporary railroads, and red lines show canals. The points designate the location of battles–with the color corresponding to the year.

In addition to the full map, I created nine slides that bookmarked the location of noteworthy battles. These included the Battle of Ft. Sumter, the First and Second Battles of Bull Run, the Battle of Glorieta Pass (lesser known and more of a skirmish, it is often called the “Gettysburg of the West” for its role in preventing the movement of Confederate forces into the West), Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse (shown in order below).

Ft. Sumter

First and Second Battles of Bull Run

Battle of Glorieta Pass

Battle of Antietam

Battle of Fredericksburg

Battle of Gettysburg

Siege of Vicksburg

Appomattox Courthouse

On the online map, the bookmarks visually show the movement of the Union and Confederate forces through the course of the major battles of the war. I hoped that a visual representation of the battles, rivers, railroads, and canals would provide better insight into one of the major questions of the war: why did the Union win? One of the predominant theories lies with the superior technological development of the North. The data on the map shows the a higher number of railroads in the northern states.

Further, one can see correlation between different features of the map. For example, Sherman’s “March to the Sea” follows railroad lines in Georgia. Sherman purposely destroyed railroad lines in order to further cripple the ability of the Confederacy to deliver supplies to its remaining forces.

Sherman’s March to the Sea

Another specific topic I am considering for my final project is Ulysses S. Grant’s siege of Vicksburg. Vicksburg was an essential city during the Civil War; as long as the Confederacy retained the city, it effectively controlled the Mississippi river and remained a unified nation. Because of Vicksburg’s location and heavy fortifications, Grant made several attempts to capture the city. Grant attempted to construct a canal near Tallulah, Louisiana, (which effectively rerouted the Mississippi River) and bypassed Vicksburg. I am interested in the lasting effects of Grant’s siege. The Union claimed victory on July 4, 1863 (one day after General Meade’s victory over Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg). The siege destructive enough that Vicksburg did not celebrate the Fourth of July for eighty-one years. With census and tax records, maps from before and after the Civil War, and shipping logs, I may be able to map the lasting effects of the conflict on the city.

Grant’s Siege of Vicksburg

Overall, the online map reveals that a majority of the Civil War’s battles were fought in Confederate territory. Further, many of the battles were fought near railroad lines. Spatial analysis of the Civil War may provide new insights into the conflict that remains the bloodiest war in United States history.

As a quick note, there are several limitations of the data I used for this map. First, the record of battles is not complete. While creating bookmarks for the major battles of the Civil War, I realized that there was not record for the Battle of Ft. Sumter (which is odd considering it is the first battle of the war). With missing battles, it is important to be wary of drawing major conclusions about troop movements. Second, many of the lines (denoting rivers, railroads, and canals) are generalizations and not exact. If one were to zoom in and look at a river on the base map, they would see that the river feature layer does not accurately represent all of the twists and turns of the waterway. This is also true of the map’s canals and railroads. Again, it is important to be cognizant of these shortcomings in the data when making conclusions using the map.

 

Link to ArcGIS online web map:

http://ricegis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer3d/index.html?id=bc87816fbf1c4783b8554945c7517b27