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Charles Joseph Minard was a true pioneer in thematic cartography and statistical graphics. Altogether he generated over 50 maps looking at differential courses for the transport of goods and people. One of his most famous maps, Napoleon's March to Moscow, is shown in the first iteration of this exhibit. This is the seventh and final version of a series of maps that show the impact of the American Civil War (1861–1865) on the European cotton trade. The flows of raw cotton prior, during, and after the war are depicted as colored bands. The width of the bands represents the amount of raw cotton imported with one millimeter representing 5000 barrels. Prior to the U.S. Civil War, most of Europe relied exclusively on the U.S. South as the sole source of this indispensable raw material (blue band). Export blockades during the war changed global trade patterns instigating a fierce competition between the U.S. (blue band), India & China (orange band), and Egypt (brown band). Minard argued that "a sustained competition among the rival producers would be most useful for England and Europe." In the mid to late 1800s, his influence and contribution to visually-based planning was so influential that all Ministers of Public Works in France had their portraits painted with one of Minard's maps in the background.