This Is The Very First Electoral Map Dividing The U.S. Into Red States And Blue States

A map of the results of the 1880 presidential election revolutionized the way we visualize the spatial aspect of politics.

When designers go about visualizing the distribution of political power in the United States, many opt to use a well-worn visual shorthand: red for Republican states and blue for Democratic states. Though the terms "red state" and "blue state" used to convey the country's partisan divide is fairly recent--the Washington Post points to the late journalist Tim Russert's coverage of the 2000 election--the habit of dividing the country into two different political hues is much older. It can be traced, according to historian Susan Schulten, back to a Census-based map in an 1883 atlas.
Thank Bush v. Gore for easy-to-understand election results.

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