A Brief History of the Census Background: The U.S. census has been taken every ten years since 1790, following adoption of the U.S. Constitution, which provided for taking the census in its first article. The intent was to provide a legislative body with the number of members from each state representative of its population. (And, of course to use for tax matters...)

The Census in the Constitution Article I. Section 2 - House of Representatives

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, …

(Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.)

The actual 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. …

1790

The First Census In March 1790, president George Washington signed the first census act, and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson sent a copy to each of the seventeen U.S. Marshals to be implemented.

The First Census of the United States was a small volume -- 56 pages.The total population of the United States in 1790, exclusive of slaves, as derived from the schedules, was 3,231,533. The only names appearing upon the schedules, however, were those of heads of families, and as at that period the families averaged 6 persons, the total number was approximately 540,000, or slightly more than half a million.

In March, 1790, the Union consisted of twelve states: Rhode Island, the last of the original thirteen to enter the Union, being admitted May 29. Vermont, the first addition, was admitted in the following year, before the results of the First Census were announced. Maine was a part of Massachusetts, Kentucky was a part of Virginia, and the present states of Alabama and Mississippi were parts of Georgia. The present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, with part of Minnesota, were known as the Northwest Territory, and the present state of Tennessee, then a part of North Carolina, was soon to be organized as the Southwest Territory.

Additional Data added As the nation grew, the census changed from a simple count of inhabitants as additional data were incorporated in each new census.

Burned Schedules The 1790 schedules for Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia were casualties of the British burning of the Capitol during the War of 1812. While these schedules contained about 30 percent of the total enumerations, they covered closer to half of our ancestral residences. Substitutes have been constructed, primarily from state tax lists, but they lack the household figures.

A note about the 1820 census
The 1820 Census has caused many a family historian to spend a considerable amount of time hunting a male that didn't exist or to follow the wrong family because of the age breakdown columns. The 1820 census added a column for Males 16-18 years of age.

What is not readily apparent to the family historian is that any males listed in this column are also listed in the 16-26 column. The government wanted an idea of the number of males that could qualify for military duty so the additional column for males 16-18 was included on the census form.
The instructions for the US Marshals for the 1820 census says: "It will be necessary to remember, that the numbers in the columns of free white males between 16 and 18 ... must not be added to the general aggregates ... the number will be repeated in the column of those between 16-26"

Source: © John L. Haynes 2000-2003 CensusMate
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