History of the Census

First Enumerations

Political representation in the House of Representatives was determined proportionally to the population of each state. As a result of the so-called three-fifths compromise, the population of enslaved persons would be counted as 60 percent toward the total for that state. In addition, the same constitutional article specifies that “Indians not taxed” are not counted for political apportionment, meaning that Native Americans who lived on reservations or were not members of the civic bodies of the United States should not be enumerated.

In order to accomplish its constitutional task, it was necessary for the census to count only free persons and the enslaved, and anything else was technically in excess. James Madison, who was on the committee that defined the scope of the census, wanted to distinguish free blacks from whites, men from women, and boys from men in order to understand the voting population. In fact, Madison also wished to include occupations so that members of Congress could better understand the nation; nonetheless, only the extra categories of race and gender were included in this first census.

The 1790 census, managed by the judicial branch, sent out federal marshals as enumerators who were instructed to count people in five categories: free white men over the age of 16, free white men under the age of 16, free white women, all other free people, and the enslaved. Determining racial classification was the responsibility of the enumerator. This enumeration counted 3.9 million Americans, of whom 3.1 million were white (80 percent), 59,000 (1 percent) blacks (“free colored”), and 0.7 million (18 percent) enslaved individuals.

The second census of 1800 counted free white males and females in five categories: younger than 10 years old, 10 to 16, 16 to 26, 26 to 45, and older than 45. The census also included the categories of other free persons, except for untaxed Native Americans and the number of enslaved people. An effort was made for a more ambitious social survey and Thomas Jefferson, among others, urged Congress to determine important statistics about the population's age, nativity, marital status, and occupation. These changes were not approved on the grounds that the Constitution did not provide the authority for this project but also because it was believed that the American people would resent this intrusion into their private lives. [Page 53]The third census of 1810 enumerated nearly identical categories as in 1800.

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