Census history

	The public generally thinks of statistics when the word "census" is discussed.  Census statistics are derived from the forms that each U.S. citizen completes every ten years.   In the early days of this country, census enumerators were dispatched across the land to count noses.   Census forms, or "schedules" with the household's information, were carefully prepared.  The National Archives and its regional offices throughout the country have the microfilm sets of the population schedules from every state.    Coloradoans have access to these schedules at the Denver Federal Center. 

	According to the introduction of the Heads of Families at the First Census Of The United States Taken in the Year 1790, Records Of The State Enumerations:  1782 To 1785 VIRGINIA,  

The First Census act was passed at the second session of the First Congress, and was signed by President Washington on March 1, 1790.  The task of making the first enumeration of inhabitants was placed upon the President.  Under this law the marshals of the several judicial districts were required to ascertain the number of inhabitants within their respective districts, omitting Indians not taxed, and distinguishing free person (including those bound to service for a term of years) from all other; the sex and color of free persons; and the number of free makes 16 years of age and over. . . The schedules which these officials prepared consist of lists of names of heads of families; each name appears in a stub, or first column, which is followed by five columns, giving details of the family.  These columns are headed as follows:

ˇFree white males of 16 years and upward, including heads of families.

ˇFree white males under 16 years.

ˇFree white females, including heads of families.

ˇAll other free persons.

ˇSlaves1  

The information collected is straightforward and says a lot about who was deemed important in the early days.   Figure 1 is a sample record and registers the number of "white souls" from the state of _____.  
Figure 1.  Census record

	The census is actually quite a social commentary.  Margo J. Anderson provides an excellent review of the census and its history in her bookThe American Census:  A Social History.  Her work discusses census history and many issues, but in particular highlights tracking American Blacks against the backdrop of  federal census records management.   How the census was initially designed, and the changes that have taken place over the years, reveals much about the American psyche to the social historian.   The issue of race and how to count minorities has been a source of great debate since the first census in 1790.   Government records that involve Black American citizens in particular highlight the early origins of our country's obsession with race.   Knowing that the early census history of this country began by counting U.S. citizens for the purpose of determining taxation and congressional representation, it is interesting to see slave census schedules.   Since slaves were property and not free citizens, how should their existence be reflected in the census?   The founding fathers debated about whether taxation could be determined by the size of the plantation and the numbers of slaves owned.   



First, measuring wealth was not easy. . . Further, and more crucially, how did one evaluate property in slaves?  Southern states did not count their slaves for legislative apportionment, but to exclude slaves from apportionments for taxes would necessarily give the slave-holding states an undue advantage.  Thus the delegates revived an expedient method proposed in 1783 as a replacement for the ineffective Article 8 of the Confederation:  slaves would be counted as three-fifths of a free person.  Population, which everyone admitted was more easily measured and was highly correlated with wealth in any case, thus became the apportionment base for both representation and taxation.  James Madison and Alexander Hamilton readily admitted in the Federalist Papers that this apportionment rule had "imperfections."  They conceded that the numeric calculation of a slave as three-fifths of a free person was clearly arbitrary;  they also admitted that no cogent theoretical justification existed for including slaves in the legislative apportionment base.  Nevertheless, they argued that although the "reasoning" defending the rule "may appear to be a little strained in some points," overall "it is evidently the least objectionable among the practicable rules."  In short, some rule had to be found.  An imperfect rule on which everyone might compromise was better than no rule. 2



Since the issue involved money and the presence of slaves meant wealth for southern citizens, politicians inadvertently began the system of tracking the majority of American Black ancestry.  Leaving a trail of historical information for future generations was most certainly not considered in the discussion of why and how to conduct a census.  Slave schedules did not contain key information such as the names of the individuals, but the age, sex, and color of the slaves were recorded under the master's name.  As frustrating as this kind of information is for Black genealogists, it may prove helpful to those individuals who do know the names of masters or locations of plantations with regard to relatives.  Figure 2 is an example of an 1850  slave schedule for Calhoun County in Texas.

Figure 2.			
				SAMPLE SLAVE SCHEDULE

These slave schedules say  a great deal about how Blacks were viewed during this time in history.  It is important to note that free Blacks were listed by name at this time also, but they comprised but a small portion of the total population.   See figure 3.

Figure 3

				SAMPLE RECORD OF FREE BLACK
	Looking at a time line of census history, key developments help identify dates of government records that help record Black American history.  The first census of the United States was conducted in 1790.   In 1850 the individual becomes a unit of enumeration rather than the family which is significant in genealogy research:3  Family historians are able to identify individual family members rather than just the male/female head of household.  By 1860 American Indians are enumerated as a separate group and in 1870 freed Blacks are identified by name and data begins to be collected on the Japanese. 4   These federal records are accessible through the National Archives and its eleven regional archival centers.  

	The following is excerpted from a public relations brochure produced by the National Archives and Records Administration: