1790 United States census: Difference between revisions
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==Data== |
==Data== |
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Census data included the name of the head of the family and categorized inhabitants as follows: free white males at least 16 years of age (to assess the country's industrial and military potential), free white males under 16 years of age, free white females, all other free persons (reported by sex and color), and slaves.<ref>{{cite web |
Census data included the name of the head of the family and categorized inhabitants as follows: free white males at least 16 years of age (to assess the country's industrial and military potential), free white males under 16 years of age, free white females, all other free persons (reported by sex and color), and slaves.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html |title=1790 Census of Population and Housing |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6YSasqtfX?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.census.gov%2Fprod%2Fwww%2Fdecennial.html |archivedate=May 11, 2015 |df=mdy }}</ref> Under the direction of the current [[Secretary of State]] [[Thomas Jefferson]], marshals collected data from all thirteen states ([[Connecticut]], [[Delaware]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Maryland]], [[Massachusetts]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New Jersey]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[North Carolina]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Rhode Island]], [[South Carolina]], and [[Virginia]]), from the [[Southwest Territory]], which would later become the state of [[Tennessee]], from the district of [[Maine]], which was then a part of Massachusetts, and from the district of [[Kentucky]], which was then a part of Virginia.<ref name="1790overview"/> The census was not conducted in [[Vermont]] until 1791, after that state's [[admission to the Union]] as the 14th state on March 4 of that year. (From 1777 until early 1791, and hence during all of 1790, [[Vermont Republic|Vermont was a de facto independent country]] whose government took the position that Vermont was not then a part of the United States.) |
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{{Commons category|1790 United States Census}} |
{{Commons category|1790 United States Census}} |
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* [http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/hiscendata.html Historic US Census data] |
* [http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/hiscendata.html Historic US Census data] |
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* [http://www.census.gov |
* [http://www.webcitation.org/6YSasqtfX?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.census.gov%2Fprod%2Fwww%2Fdecennial.html 1790 Census of Population and Housing official reports] |
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* [http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab02.txt Population of 24 Urban Places: 1790] |
* [http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab02.txt Population of 24 Urban Places: 1790] |
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Revision as of 22:56, 12 September 2016
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/1790a-01-page-001.jpg/220px-1790a-01-page-001.jpg)
The United States Census of 1790 was the first census of the whole United States. It recorded the population of the United States as of Census Day, August 2, 1790, as mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution and applicable laws. In the first census, the population of the United States was enumerated to be 3,929,214.[1]
Congress assigned responsibility for the 1790 census to the marshals of United States judicial districts under an act which, with minor modifications and extensions, governed census taking through 1840. "The law required that every household be visited, that completed census schedules be posted in 'two of the most public places within [each jurisdiction], there to remain for the inspection of all concerned...' and that 'the aggregate amount of each description of persons' for every district be transmitted to the president."[2]
Loss of data
Although the Census was proved statistically factual, based on data collected, the records for several states (including: Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, and Virginia) were lost sometime between 1790 and 1830.[3] Almost one third of the original census data have been lost or destroyed since their original documentation. These include the 1790 data from: Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Vermont; however, the validity and existence of most of these data can be confirmed in many secondary sources pertaining to the first census.[4]
Data
Census data included the name of the head of the family and categorized inhabitants as follows: free white males at least 16 years of age (to assess the country's industrial and military potential), free white males under 16 years of age, free white females, all other free persons (reported by sex and color), and slaves.[5] Under the direction of the current Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, marshals collected data from all thirteen states (Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia), from the Southwest Territory, which would later become the state of Tennessee, from the district of Maine, which was then a part of Massachusetts, and from the district of Kentucky, which was then a part of Virginia.[2] The census was not conducted in Vermont until 1791, after that state's admission to the Union as the 14th state on March 4 of that year. (From 1777 until early 1791, and hence during all of 1790, Vermont was a de facto independent country whose government took the position that Vermont was not then a part of the United States.)
District | Free white males of 16 years and upward, including heads of families. | Free white males under 16 years. | Free white females, including heads of families. | All other free persons. | Slaves. | Total. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vermont | 22,435 | 22,328 | 40,505 | 255 | 16[a][6] | 85,539[b] |
New Hampshire | 36,086 | 34,851 | 70,160 | 630 | 158 | 141,885 |
Maine | 24,384 | 24,748 | 46,870 | 538 | 0 | 96,540 |
Massachusetts | 95,453 | 87,289 | 190,582 | 5,463 | 0 | 378,787 |
Rhode Island | 16,019 | 15,799 | 32,652 | 3,407 | 948 | 68,825 |
Connecticut | 60,523 | 54,403 | 117,448 | 2,808 | 2,764 | 237,946 |
New York | 83,700 | 78,122 | 152,320 | 4,654 | 21,324 | 340,120 |
New Jersey | 45,251 | 41,416 | 83,287 | 2,762 | 11,423 | 184,139 |
Pennsylvania | 110,788 | 106,948 | 206,363 | 6,537 | 3,737 | 434,373 |
Delaware | 11,783 | 12,143 | 22,384 | 3,899 | 8,887 | 59,094[c] |
Maryland | 55,915 | 51,339 | 101,395 | 8,043 | 103,036 | 319,728 |
Virginia | 110,936 | 116,135 | 215,046 | 12,866 | 292,627 | 747,610 |
Kentucky | 15,154 | 17,057 | 28,922 | 114 | 12,430 | 73,677 |
North Carolina | 69,988 | 77,506 | 140,710 | 4,975 | 100,572 | 393,751 |
South Carolina | 35,576 | 37,722 | 66,880 | 1,801 | 107,094 | 249,073 |
Georgia | 13,103 | 14,044 | 25,739 | 398 | 29,264 | 82,548 |
Total | 807,094 | 791,850 | 1,541,263 | 59,150 | 694,280 | 3,893,635 |
- ^ The census of 1790, published in 1791, reports 16 slaves in Vermont. Subsequently, and up to 1860, the number is given as 17. An examination of the original manuscript allegedly shows that there never were any slaves in Vermont. The original error occurred in preparing the results for publication, when 16 persons, returned as "Free colored", were classified as "Slave". But this claim is disputed by at least one historian.
- ^ Corrected figures are 85,425, or 114 less than the figures published in 1790, due to an error of addition in the returns for each of the towns of Fairfield, Milton, Shelburne, and Williston, in the county of Chittenden; Brookfield, Newbury, Randolph, and Strafford, in the county of Orange; Castleton, Clarendon, Hubbardton, Poultney, Rutland, Shrewsburg, and Wallingford, in the county of Rutland; Dummerston, Guilford, Halifax, and Westminster, in the county of Windham; and Woodstock, in the county of Windsor.
- ^ Corrected figures are 59,096, or 2 more than figures published in 1790, due to error in addition.
Effect on congressional apportionment
Based upon the population enumeration provided by the 1790 Census, the 2nd Congress passed legislation which increased the size of the United States House of Representatives from 69 seats in the 2nd Congress to 105 in the 3rd and apportioned those seats among the several states accordingly.
Contemporary perception
Both Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and President George Washington expressed skepticism[7] over the results, believing that the true population had been undercounted. If there was indeed an undercount, possible explanations for it include dispersed population, poor transportation links, limitations of contemporary technology, and individual refusal to participate.
Data availability
No microdata from the 1790 population census are available, but aggregate data for small areas, together with compatible cartographic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System.
City rankings
References
- ^ "History: 1790 Fast Facts". U.S. Census Bureau.
- ^ a b "History: 1790 Overview". U.S. Census Bureau.
- ^ Dollarhide, William (2001). The Census Book: A Genealogists Guide to Federal Census Facts, Schedules and Indexes. North Salt Lake, Utah: HeritageQuest. p. 7.
- ^ "1790 Census". 1930 Census Resources for Genealogists.
- ^ "1790 Census of Population and Housing". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ http://slavenorth.com/vermont.htm
- ^ "1790 Overview". U.S. Census Bureau.
- ^ Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, U.S. Census Bureau, 1998
- ^ "Regions and Divisions". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)