Transcript The State of Delmarva - Montclair State University

The State of Delmarva
Accounting for Singularity, Insularity, and Other Irregularities
of a Population in Economic and Social Evolution
http://msuweb.montclair.edu/~lebelp/ProfessionalActivity.html/201408TheStateofDelmarva.ppt
Phillip LeBel, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Economics
Montclair State University
Montclair, New Jersey
[email protected]
A State of Delmarva?
Before anyone embraces a new State of Delmarva, let us first define the region in terms
of various attributes. To the extent that these attributes provide a singular profile, a case
could be made for combining the tri-state counties into a new State. If not, then maybe
things should remain as they are.
Size Matters
Delmarva is a relatively flat peninsula with a low average elevation in which
settlements and population density are limited in part by wetlands, rivers, and
streams. Wetlands and water bodies account for over a third of total county size.
Rural Delmarva
Delmarva is still a collection of small towns and villages. A 2010 population sample
derived from the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau illustrates
how rural many parts of the region reflect small-town America.
Delaware towns are on
average eight times larger
than those on the Eastern
Shore of Virginia, and twice
the
size
of
those
in
Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Differences in town size
reflect
differences
in
economic activity, levels of
per capita income and
schooling, and socio-cultural
integration with the larger
region beyond.
Delmarva’s Geographic Legacy
Place names reflect a mix of Algonquian Native American and European Settler culture.
Population Growth on Delmarva
Delaware’s Population Dominates Delmarva’s Demographics
Global Warming on Delmarva
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There is a 2 degree Celsius mean annual temperature difference between Wilmington,
Delaware and Cape Charles, Virginia
Since 1895, the mean annual temperature on Delmarva has increased by 2 degrees
Celsius
Barrier islands of the Chesapeake have been disappearing for over a century as sea
levels rise
Flora and fauna found usually farther south are found increasingly on Delmarva
Delmarva Falls Short on Sustainable Growth
Population growth and over-harvesting place stress on natural resources
The Weight of History on Delmarva
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Arriving in the seventeenth century, European settlers soon displace
Algonquian local populations, leaving within a century only token
levels of Native American communities on Delmarva
A settler plantation economy driven by tobacco and then grains is
fueled by the African slave trade that changes the demographic mix
of Delmarva
As tobacco cultivation waned and many slaves were sold to the
south, Delmarva retained a slave population right up through the
Civil War, and who worked both as field hands and as domestics until
challenged by abolitionists.
Delmarva produced two of the most noted abolitionists in U.S. history
- Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) and Frederick Douglass (1818-1895),
each of whom inspired a shift in the mission of the Civil War from a
simple preservation of the Union to the emancipation of AfricanAmerican slaves and a more inclusive vision of America that would
inspire generations to come.
Despite emancipation, racism still infected much of Delmarva culture,
leading to renewed efforts to expand civil rights in the twentieth
century.
Delmarva and the Struggle for Emancipation
The Free Black Share of the Non-White Population on Delmarva
Harriet Tubman, ca. 1885
Frederick Douglass, ca. 1879
Delmarva in the Civil War
•More soldiers fought for the Union than for the Confederacy
•No major Civil War battle was fought on Delmarva
•The proportion of the population in the military was highest in Delaware,
followed by the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and then the Eastern Shore of
Virginia
•The ratio of Union to Confederate forces was highest in Delaware, where
emancipation rates at the onset of the Civil War were the highest,
followed by the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and then the Eastern Shore of
Virginia
•Union troops sent from Salisbury, Maryland’s Camp Upton early on
seized control of Northampton and Accomack counties, preventing them
from joining mainland Virginia in secession from the Union.
The Economic Legacy of Reconstruction on Delmarva
•Reconstruction on Delmarva meant a shift to sharecropping in a still
agriculturally based economy, in which small-scale farming was dominant.
•While real per capita income began to expand, it would continue to lag the
United States for decades, reflecting slow capital-labor substitution and a
weak transportation infrastructure, resulting in slow increases in agricultural
productivity.
The Social Legacy of Reconstruction on Delmarva
•Educational achievement on Delmarva lagged other regions, with segregated schools the norm as
reinforced by the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision until overturned in the 1954 Brown v.
Topeka, Kansas Board of Education Supreme Court decision.
•Lynchings, almost entirely of African-Americans by white mobs, took place on Delmarva as racial
hysteria gripped the country. The lynchings of Matthew Williams in Salisbury on December 4, 1931 and
George Armwood in Princess Anne on October 18, 1933, served as a reminder of the historical legacy of
slavery, segregation, and racial animosity on Delmarva.
•Racial segregation would lead to renewed efforts to expand civil rights in the 1960s and beyond.
A Singularity Index for Delmarva
Components of a Basic Singularity Index
Singularity Index Standardized Components
Possible Components of an Expanded Singularity Index
In any singularity index, the purpose is not to impose an a priori normative standard but rather to see if a
set of descriptive indicators corresponds closely across various regions. Beyond the basic index, we show
here some expanded components that could be used for purposes of comparison.
An economic misery index: the
simple sum of the inflation and
unemployment rates.
Life Expectancy
Health, Crime, Fiscal Burden and Poverty Indicators
Singularity Index Comparisons
Using a set of indicators, a singularity index can be defined as the ratio, g/m, where g is the geometric mean of a
series, and m is the arithmetic mean. Perfect singularity has a value of 1 while imperfect singularity has a value of
0. The higher the resulting index, the more homogeneous is the geographic grouping. While Delaware, the Eastern
Shore of Maryland and the Eastern Shore of Virginia each have relatively high singularity, but when combined for all
14 counties of the region result in a relatively low singularity value for Delmarva as a whole. While one could
conduct even more expanded singularity index tests, because Delmarva’s singularity index is less than for
Maryland, Virginia, or Delaware, the case for a single State of Delmarva seems weak.
Delmarva as a State of Mind
Whether one looks only at the historical legacy or at the elements of a singularity index, differences across the region
are significant enough to keep the tri-state system of governance in place, and leave Delmarva more as a state of
mind than a political reality. What that state of mind looks like can be seen in a few suggestive images.
The Delmarva Navy
Delmarva Heavy Artillery Battery
The Delmarva Armored Cavalry