Literature v3 · Research topic
Where did silk workers live in 1880? Were those counties also the most urban?
Imagine uncovering the hidden economic story behind a single silk scarf—how many hands, towns, and trade routes were involved? Using free historical census data, you can map the rise and fall of America's silk industry without ever leaving your computer.
Why this matters
Imagine uncovering the hidden economic story behind a single silk scarf—how many hands, towns, and trade routes were involved? Using free historical census data, you can map the rise and fall of America's silk industry without ever leaving your computer.
Project scores
Difficulty
This project involves analyzing historical census data to explore the geographic concentration of silk workers in 1880. Over 8 weeks, you will learn to access and clean historical datasets, perform basic statistical analysis, and create maps to visualize correlations with urbanization. No prior coding experience is required, but comfort with spreadsheets and data interpretation is helpful. The pac
3 of 5 difficulty
Strengths
- Strong use of historical data to answer a geographic question
- Clear connection between economic history and urbanization
- Reproducible methodology using public datasets
Skills built
Zero-cost data
Zero-cost dataResearch gap
Imagine uncovering the hidden economic story behind a single silk scarf—how many hands, towns, and trade routes were involved? Using free historical census data, you can map the rise and fall of America's silk industry without ever leaving your computer.
Curriculum alignment
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