August 3, 2012 10:11 am
170 Years of America’s Evolution In One Animated Gif
Political geography of America, March 30 1822 to November 15 1824. Photo: Golbez
Combining Wikipedia user Golbez‘s nuanced time-step images of the evolving United States, an unknown person put together this great animated map. The detailed images were later annotated by NationMaster.com. In one click, the drifting lines and changing colors take you through 170 years of history; from late 1789 just after the passing of United States Constitution up to the modern organization which didn’t arise until August 21, 1959, when Hawaii became a state.
It’s particularly interesting watch states such as Georgia or Texas start out as gigantic stretches of land before being slowly whittled away. Or, to see Mexico’s dominance of what is now the southwestern US recede, from its origination in 1821 to its disappearance in 1854.
More from Smithsonian.com:
How the Louisiana Purchase Changed the World
The Cherokees vs. Andrew Jackson
The Law that Ripped America in Two
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6 Comments »
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This isn’t animating for me? Probably because the above image is a .jpg not a .gif…
Comment by Andrew — August 3, 2012 @ 2:13 pm
Hi Andrew, unfortunately the animated clip was a size that wasn’t agreeable with our layout. I’ve edited the caption and story to be a bit more clear!
Thanks
Comment by Colin Schultz — August 3, 2012 @ 2:24 pm
Quick response! Nice work!
Comment by Andrew — August 3, 2012 @ 2:48 pm
Thanks Andrew! Had to move some tubes around but we got the map to fit within our template.
Comment by Ryan Reed — August 3, 2012 @ 2:50 pm
It’s originally from Wikipedia (not NationMaster):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_evolution_of_the_United_States
Wikipedia user Golbez’s labor of love, apparently.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Golbez
Comment by Kai Carver — August 10, 2012 @ 6:24 pm
Noted and updated, thanks!
Comment by Colin Schultz — August 10, 2012 @ 7:10 pm