Data Literacy for Social Studies, Number of Manufacturing Establishments per State, 1850 vs. 1860

We created these bar graphs using data tables from the 1860 U.S. Census to show the number of manufacturing establishments per state in 1850 and 1860.  The spreadsheets found here include the original table, a recreated table, and the graphs. It is important to note that the scale for the Union States bar graph ranges from 0-25,000 manufacturing establishments while the scale for the Confederate and Border states bar graphs range from 0-6,000 manufacturing establishments. This is due to the large number of manufacturing establishments in New York and Pennsylvania, which numbered over 20,000 in both 1850 and 1860. These states had significantly more manufacturing establishments than even the next most manufacturing-heavy state of Ohio, which had just over 10,000 establishments in both 1850 and 1860. While the table and graphs in the spreadsheet clearly highlight how many more manufacturing establishments were in Northern states overall, it is also important to note that the number of manufacturing establishments in states like Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee was not very different than the number in many Northern states.