About the Project
Answering how black recruitment impacted Kentucky's war effort
The Rail Splitter at Work Repairing the Union, 1865
The Project
This digital component seeks to display quantitative data relating to Kentucky, Michigan, and Wisconsin during the American Civil War. I organized this component chronologically so that the information presented in each section corresponds with the chapters of the written thesis. It is important to note that this component is an addition to the primary thesis. Consequently, I could not include all of the information or arguments which I use to substantiate my broader claims. I intend for this site to help someone reading my thesis to better understand the quantitative data my argument relies upon. Furthermore, I chose to make this component digital, as opposed to simply placing the graphs in an appendix, so that users can interact with the information. For example, a user can place the cursor on any bar or pie chart and see the percentage and quantity of the displayed information. I chose to use Google Graphs as this was the easiest and most efficient way to present this data.
This project represents two years of research which I conducted under the direction of Dr. Nicole Etcheson, Dr. Scott Stephan, and Dr. Douglas Seefeldt. This specific component could not have been possible without the help of Dr. Seefeldt who directed me through the process of how to code and design this site.
About Me
My name is Jake Klinger and I graduated from Indiana University South Bend with a B.A. in History and a minor in European Studies in May of 2017. Currently, I am an M.A. Candidate in the Department of History at Ball State University and I am set to graduate in May 2019. My primary field is the American Civil War and, as this project suggests, how African American Recruitment impacted Kentucky's military support to the Federal Government.
Special Thanks
This project would not have been possible without the guidance and aid from Dr. Douglas Seefeldt whose expertise in digital scholarship made this component possible. I would also like to thank Dr. Nicole Etcheson and Dr. Scott Stephan who helped by editing my thesis and by directing me to primary and secondary sources.