Transcript The United States Census

Dr. John V. Richardson Jr.
UCLA DIS 280 “Research Methods”
Fall 2009
US Constitution
 Article 1, Section 2 says:
 "[An] Enumeration shall be made within three Years
after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United
States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years,
in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.”
 Congress met in 1789, hence 1790 became the first
census
Definitions
 Enumeration means
 “a catalog of list” (1615-1625) or
 “to ascertain the number of; count” (1640-1650)
 “Name one by one; specify, as in a list”
 for the purpose of determining the number of
inhabitants for proportional representation in the
House of Representatives (i.e., "Representatives . . . shall
be apportioned among the several States . . . according
to their respective Numbers....)
English Legal Dictionaries
 Leading legal dictionaries of the late 1700s:
 Jacob's Dictionary (10th ed., London 1782)
 Cunningham's Dictionary (3d ed., London 1783)
 Burn's Dictionary (1st ed., London 1792)
Respective Numbers…
 14th Amendment, Section 2: “Representatives shall be
apportioned among the several States according to
their respective numbers, counting the whole number
of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed."
 So, the Constitution uses the word “numbers” or
“persons.”
 The Constitution does not use the word inhabitants
nor “citizens,” nor “legal residents,” nor “those lawfully
present.”
1790 Census Population & Housing
 The first enumeration began on Monday, August 2, 1790, little more than a year
after the inauguration of President Washington and shortly before the second
session of the first Congress ended. The Congress assigned responsibility for
the 1790 census to the marshals of the U.S. judicial districts under an act that,
with minor modifications and extensions, governed census-taking through
1840.
 The law required that every household be visited and 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.
 The six inquiries in 1790 called for the name of the head of the family and the
number of persons in each household of the following descriptions: Free White
males of 16 years and upward (to assess the country’s industrial and military
potential), free White males under 16 years, free White females, all other free
persons (by sex and color), and slaves.
 SOURCE: http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/decennial/1790.htm
Marshal’s Oath
 The oath or affirmation of the marshal shall be:
 “I, A.B., Marshall of the district of _____, do solemnly
swear (or affirm) that I will well cause to be made a
just and perfect enumeration and description of all
persons resident within my district…."
 SOURCE: “Heads of Families at the First Census of the
United States…”
Census Questions
 Manuscript census, 1790-1840
 Head of household and date of birth, military service,
immigration and naturalization, occupation and economic
data
 35,300 immigrants from Scotland in the 1790 census based on
surname alone (according to Arlene H. Eakle)
 Manuscript census, 1850-1930
 parent’s place of origin
 Notes:
 1890, a 1921 US Commerce Department fire burned most of
the records
 1930, last available due to privacy restrictions
13 USC (sections)
 Responsibility:
 US Bureau of the Census within the US Department of
Commerce (Section 2)
 Questionnaires:
 number, form, and scope (Section 5)
 Refusal or neglect to answer questions (section 221)
…$100 fine
 False answers (section 221) …$500 fine