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The 1790 United States Census was the first census in the history of the United States. The population of the United States was recorded as 3,929,214 as of Census Day, August 2, 1790, as mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution and applicable laws. [1]
"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] This law along with U.S. marshals were responsible for governing the census.
Loss of data edit
Approximately one third of the original census data has been lost or destroyed since documentation. The data was lost from 1790-1830 and included data from: Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, and Virginia; however, the census was proven factual and the existence of most of these data can be confirmed in many secondary sources pertaining to the first census. [3] [4]
Data edit
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] Thomas Jefferson, the current Secretary of State, directed marshals to collect 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), and from the Southwest Territory.[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.
| District | Free white males at least 16 years of age, 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[c][7] |
| 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[d] |
| 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[e][7] |
| 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.
- ^ The figures for Massachusetts do not include the population of Maine. Though Maine was then a part of Massachusetts, the Maine figures were compiled separately, and are shown on the line for Maine.
- ^ Corrected figures are 59,096, or 2 more than figures published in 1790, due to error in addition.
- ^ The figures for Virginia do not include the population of Kentucky. Though Kentucky was then a part of Virginia, the Kentucky figures were compiled separately, and are shown on the line for Kentucky. The Virginia figures do include the portion of Virginia that later became the state of West Virginia.
Contemporary perception edit
There was some doubt surrounding the numbers, President George Washington and Thomas Jefferson maintained the population was undercounted.[8] The potential reasons Washington and Jefferson may have thought this could be refusal to participate, poor public transportation and roads, spread out population, and restraints of current technology.
Data availability edit
No microdata from the 1790 population census is available, but aggregate data for small areas and their compatible cartographic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System.
References edit
- ^ "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 12, 2015.
- ^ http://slavenorth.com/vermont.htm
- ^ a b Census Office, United States (1909). "A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900". p. 47.
- ^ "1790 Overview". U.S. Census Bureau.