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Kelsey Setla
Sherrin Frances
English 212
8 February 2015
The Peculiarity of the 38 States
We have all seen them: maps. They are informational pictures of different parts of the
globe. They include countries, states, cities, towns, populations, elevations, street names, and
much more. However, maps are not strictly informational pictures. They are living documents
that tell a whole lot more than just the general location of places and things. They tell the story of
each particular place's historical, political, economic, religious, educational, cultural, and social
identity. Every mapregardless of its size, color, or typehas the potential to be both
informative and, sometimes, problematic. This means that the information displayed on any
given map can have an effect on who creates the map, how the map is perceived, and the overall
message of the map itself.
These ideas are directly displayed by the creation of the proposed 38 United States. In
1973, C. Etzel Pearcy, a professor at the University of California in Los Angeles decided to erase
the current borders of the United States and start overonly leaving 38 states on display (figure
1). In order to come up with names for the new states, Pearcy held a poll at the college and
allowed the students to rename the states based on their perception of the areas physical features
and cultures. As you can see in figure 1, the territory that was once Michigan is renamed
Mackinac and the lands near Ohio are turned into the Erie territory. The realignment of the
borders is also very significant. Pearcy moved state lines away from the most heavily populated
areas to avoid contested spaces, or areas of conflict, confusion on addresses, and which state
taxpayers pay taxes tosimilar to what gerrymandering causes between current states, today
(Reynolds). He also placed large economic centers in the middle of each territory, to make them
easily accessible. One of the most remarkable things about the redrawn map is that each territory

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is roughly the same sizeeach of the 38 states is relatively 25% larger than in the traditional 50
states (Osarg). His plan behind this restructuring was to eliminate the political disputes over
gerrymandering and the economic disputes over unequal taxes between states. Pearcy projects,
annual savings in fixed costs would be about $4.6 billion, or $100 per person (Osarg).

Figure 1. A replica of the map of the proposed 38 United States of America, as restructured by
University of California professor, C. Etzel Pearcy, in 1973.
The first element to consider when analyzing this map is the credibility of the
information. C. Etzel Pearcy was a highly esteemed college professor which makes his proposed
map especially important. The amount of thought he put in to all of the factors of his map
displays exactly how much of the information is worth analyzing. In a TED talk from last year,
Derek Sivers, explains the different systems for addresses between the United States and Japan.
In the United States, places are identified by the streets they are on; however, in Japan places are

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identified by the specific blocks in which they are located. Similarly, one of the things that is
especially intriguing about the restructuring of the United States, by Pearcy, is the fact that he
was willing to study systems from other countries and use their innovative ideas to create a
potentially helpful system for the United States. He even wrote and published several books that
all studied the effect of politics and the economy on geography, which led to his fascination with
the restructuring of the United States. His focus was on well-developed countriesmost of
which are members of the United Nations. This type of dedication to his idea and the attention he
paid to detail, is just one of the many reasons why Pearcy is such an intriguing pioneer of
mapping systemsand why the 38 states is as interesting as it is.
The second important element of this diagram is the emotions that are conjured up in the
minds of the audience. When Pearcy released this map to the world, it created a mix of reactions
that are still strongly polarized today. The proposed 38 states were intended to be a solution to
tax problems that are created by poorly drawn borders and unequal funding between states of
different sizes; however, it created more of a loyalty controversy than anything. Many people
have argued that redrawing state borders ruins the idea of American loyalty and that we should
not mess with a system that has been in place for so long. They believe that redrawing the
borders would create even more questions and confusions, as most new ideas do. Even Pearcy
himself agrees that there are many more factors to be considered before the redrawing could be
more of a reality. In contrast, those who support Pearcy think that the 38 states would be
beneficial to the publics economy and society. They are currently designing a new flag for the
redrawn United States.
The final element to take into account when viewing this map is the context of the
information and how it is presented. During the 1970s, when this map was created, the United
States was in a time of innovation and exploration. For example, the 1970's saw the birth of

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progressive rock bands including ACDC and Aerosmith, as well as the invention of the lava lamp
and color television (1970's). This was a time of opportunity for Pearcy because so many people
were willing to understand what his ideas were and how they could be potentially beneficial to
society. It is also because of the decade that he was able to be so radical in his work and allow so
many others to add input to his idea. Pearcy would not have been able to create such an
impactful piece without the open-mindedness of his audience and the context of the decade.
After assessing all of the elements that contribute to the power of a work, it is important
to understand the significance that the work has. The significance of Pearcys work goes far
beyond that of just creating a conversation. His innovative ideas sparked controversy and paved
the way for several others to expand on his work. There are multiple others who have taken the
ideas that Pearcy proposed and created even more detailed solutions (Comparison). They also
look at current issues and even some issues that Pearcy never addressed himself, such as
population composition, water supply, and resources (Osarg). His work has also sparked an
interest in the effectiveness of current political systems and practices, including ideas
surrounding gerrymandering, border sanctions, taxes, and land ownership.
Throughout history, maps have been created in hopes of helping the public learn more
about the world we live in; only to be trashed due to inconsistencies. However, one can conclude
that there is more to a map than, specifically, what meets the eye. Maps are insights into the
historical, political, economic, religious, educational, cultural, and social identity of places
around the world and should be treated as such. The arguments, emotions, and statistics
surrounding the proposed 38 United States of America is just one example of this very important
concept.

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Works Cited
"Comparison between Proposal of G. Etzel Pearcy." Comparison of Pearcy and Cleaver
Boundaries. REV, 18 Sept. 2012. Web. 07 Feb. 2015.
Osarg, Carol. "The Thirty-Eight States." The Thirty-Eight States. The People's Almanac, 1975.
Web. 4 Feb. 2015.
Pearcy, C. Etzel. The Proposed 38 States of America. Digital image. Mental Floss. Mental Floss,
23 June 2014. Web. 4 Feb. 2015.
Reynolds, Nedra. Geographies of Writing: Inhabiting Places and Encountering Difference.
Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2004. Print.
Sivers, Derek. "Weird or Just Different." TED. TED, Nov. 2009. Web. 4 Feb. 2015.
"1970s News, Events, Popular Culture and Prices." The People History. The People History,
2004. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.