Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Friday, March 24
    Trending
    • This Day in History on March 24th
    • History Short: Has Any US President Ever Been Arrested?
    • This Day in History on March 23rd
    • R.I.P. Lance Reddick (1962-2023)
    • This Day in History on March 22nd
    • This Day in History on March 21st
    • Animated Map of the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine (through March 20th, 2023)
    • This Day in History on March 20th
    History and Headlines
    • Arts & Entertainment
      • Cinema & TV
      • Games
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Sports
      • Video Games
    • Bizarre Bulletin
      • Misconceptions
      • The Bizarre
      • The Paranormal
      • The Unexplained
    • Lifestyle
      • Animals/Pets
      • Fashion
      • Food
      • Health/Medicine
      • Home Improvement
      • Horoscopes
      • Travel
    • Science & Tech
      • Inventions
      • Nature
      • Vehicles
    • Society
      • Business and Economics
      • Crime
      • Military
      • Politics
      • Religion
      • Society
    • About
      • Welcome to Our Site!
      • This Day in History
      • Table of Contents: A History of the World
      • Online History Textbooks
      • A Guide to Some of Our Favorite Scholars and Educators
      • Advance Screenings and Movie Reviews Archive
      • Schedule of Video Adaptations of Our Articles
    • Friends
      • Armchair History TV
      • Fact Fiend
      • RealClearHistory
      • Simply Charly
      • TopTenz
      • ​Unique Interpretations
    History and Headlines
    You are at:Home»March»March 1»March 1, 1790: The First US Census (Census Shmensus!)
    March 1

    March 1, 1790: The First US Census (Census Shmensus!)

    Major DanBy Major DanMarch 1, 2018Updated:February 15, 2020No Comments5 Mins Read
    Email Facebook LinkedIn Pinterest Reddit Telegram Tumblr Twitter VKontakte WhatsApp

    A Brief History

    On March 1, 1790, the first census in the history of the United States was authorized, with some interesting results. Article One of the US Constitution mandates that a census be taken every 10 years, an important task since allocation of representatives to Congress and allocation of funds and other things are based where the population is currently living. The most recent census was compiled in 2010 and presents an interesting comparison to the 1790 results.

    Digging Deeper

    The census has taken on a certain amount of resistance from conspiracy theorists, including the move of the Census Bureau from the Department of Commerce to the White House in 2010. Distrust of providing any personal information to the Government leads many people to avoid providing their data or providing false data. Many homeless people are not counted, as are many people avoiding criminal or civil liabilities. Minorities complain that they are underrepresented in the count, while others claim minorities are over-represented in order to somehow decrease the political power of the White majority.

    Census regional marketing logo in Minnesota.

    People from the political left and the political right both think their side is getting somehow shafted by the census process. Other people want more demographic included in census statistics, such as counting transgender people, while others are unhappy with the choices for race, sex, gender, religion, etc. It really does seem as though what started as a relatively simple idea has become a complicated nightmare!

    In 1790, census takers found the total US population to be 3,929,214, of which almost 700,000 were slaves (about 17%). This first census enumerated the population into 5 categories, Free White Males over 16, Free White Males under 16, Females, all other Free Persons, and Slaves. Native Americans did not have a category and were probably not counted the first several times the census was taken, and even once they began to be counted the reporting was surely somewhat unreliable. Virginia had the most people of the 13 states (eventually data from 16 states were included, from Kentucky/1792, Vermont/1791, Maine/1820), with a reported 110,936, with Pennsylvania right behind at 110,788. The next 2 most populous states were Massachusetts with 95,453 and New York with 83,700 people. The least populous state was Georgia with 13,103 people although it was the largest state by area. The only states to report no slaves at all were Maine and Massachusetts.

    The data from Vermont was not added until 1791 when it was admitted to the Union, having previously been technically a separate country before then. Kentucky was added as a state in 1792, and Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1820, but is listed separately in the census.

    A woman with a Hollerith pantograph punch, the keyboard is for the 1920 US Census population card

    As of the 2010 census, the most populous states were not even in the United States in 1790, California boasting the most people with 33,871,648, followed by Texas with 20,851,820. New York is now in third place, with Florida rising to fourth. Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio are the only other states with over 10,000,000 people in the 2010 census. Massachusetts, the most populous state from 1790, had dropped to fourteenth place. Another fascinating fact from 2010 is that Washington, D.C. has more people (601,723) than Wyoming (563,626), our least populous state. Vermont, the fourteenth state and one of the original 13 colonies, ranked forty-ninth of the 50 states.

    In 2010, 14 of our largest cities’ metropolitan areas outnumbered the population of the entire country in 1790, led by New York City, with a metropolitan area population of 19,567,410. The only other city with a metropolitan population over 10 million is Los Angeles with 12,828,837, although Chicago is close.  Even back in 1790 New York City was our most populous, with 33,131 people. Philadelphia was second with 28,522 people, and only Boston, Charleston, and Baltimore had over 10,000 people. Interestingly, in sixth place was Northern Liberties, Pennsylvania, population 9,913, a place this author had never heard of! Northern Liberties became part of Philadelphia in 1854. The seventh place city in 1790, Charleston, South Carolina, has only 134,000 people today, not ranking anywhere near the top 50 in the US. Other high ranking cities by population in 1790 are considered small cities today, such as Newport, Rhode Island, Providence, Rhode Island and Marblehead, Massachusetts. In fact, most (but not all) of the next several cities on the 1790 list are places the author has not heard of.

    The United States in 2010 had a population of 308,745,538 and has perhaps 325,710,000 today. And you wonder why you cannot find a parking space!  Question for students (and subscribers): Do you have any profound thoughts about the US Census? Or perhaps interesting tales? If so, please share them with us in the comments section below this article.

    (Note: Despite meticulous Roman record keeping, there is no record of a census held in Israel/Palestine around the time of the birth of Christ. Not only that, even if there was, people were not required to go back to where they were born to be counted, all this being a curious inconsistency in the New Testament.)

    If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!

    Your readership is much appreciated!

    Historical Evidence

    For more information, please see…

    Dollarhide, William. The Census Book: A Genealogist’s Guide to Federal Census Facts, Schedules and Indexes. Heritage Quest, 1999.

    Hinckley, Kathleen. Your Guide to the Federal Census. Betterway Books, 2002.

    Lainhart, Ann. State Census Records. Genealogical Publishing, 1992.

    Share. Email Facebook LinkedIn Pinterest Reddit Telegram Twitter Tumblr
    Previous ArticleFebruary 28, 2018: Jerks of the Month!
    Next Article March 2, 1933: 10 Greatest Movie Monsters
    Major Dan

    Major Dan is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.

    Related Posts

    History Short: Has Any US President Ever Been Arrested?

    March 24, 2023

    History Short: Is Nuclear Power Safe?

    March 12, 2023

    History Short: Fairytale Marriages that did Not Last

    March 9, 2023
    Follow Us!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Patreon
    Sign Up For Our Newsletter!
    Most Recent

    This Day in History on March 24th

    March 24, 2023

    History Short: Has Any US President Ever Been Arrested?

    March 24, 2023

    This Day in History on March 23rd

    March 23, 2023

    R.I.P. Lance Reddick (1962-2023)

    March 23, 2023

    This Day in History on March 22nd

    March 22, 2023
    This Day in History Video

    Advertisements




    Amazon Affiliate Disclosure Statement

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases via links in the “Historical Evidence” sections of articles.

    About HistoryAndHeadlines.com

    Thanks for visiting History and Headlines!  This site exists primarily for educational purposes and is intended as a resource for Dr. Zar’s students.  Articles are mostly written by either Dr. Zar or his dad (Major Dan).  To any guest readers, please keep that in mind when commenting on articles.   Thank you!

    We try to present our students with historical topics that are both diverse and a bit out of the ordinary.  Our motto is “We try until we succeed!”

    Contact us at admin@historyandheadlines.com

    Guidelines and Policies for Images used on This Site, as well as for Guest and Sponsored Articles, and Other Terms of Use

    Privacy Statement

    © 2023 History and Headlines

    All-Time Most Commented

    July 28, 1866: 18 Year Old Girl Wins Commission to Sculpt Statue of Lincoln (A Truly Great American Woman)

    July 28, 2014

    December 24, 1865: Birth of the Ku Klux Klan

    December 24, 2015

    December 25, 1868: President Johnson Pardons all Confederate Veterans

    December 25, 2015

    February 5, 1909: First Plastic Invented was called Bakelite!

    February 5, 2014

    November 23, 1876: “Boss” Tweed Turned Over to Authorities

    November 23, 2013
    Recommended Book
    © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

    You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

    History and Headlines
    Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

    Strictly Necessary Cookies

    Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

    If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.