A Brief History of the United States
Census, 1790 to 2010
Prepared by Reynolds Farley for :
Gerald R. Ford School
National Poverty Center
Monday, June 22, 2009
Why Does the United States Have the Longest History of
Continuous Census Enumeration?
The framers of the Constitution mandated a decennial
census to:
 Ensure that population size―not political influence or
economic wealth―determined how many representatives each state had in the lower house of
Congress.
 Ensure that federal taxes would be levied upon states
in proportion to their population size
The Constitution and the Census
 “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. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed
one for every thirty Thousand but each State shall have at Least one
Representative. . . “(Article 1, Section 2)
Amendment XIV adopted in 1868 allocated representatives according
to the whole number of persons excluding Indians not taxed.
 “No Capitation, or other direct Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion
to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken"
After the War of 1812, the federal government stopped imposing taxes
on states on the basis of their population size. Amendment XVI,
adopted in 1913, permitted an income tax.
A Conversation about Race:
Is It New or Continuing?
Groups specifically mentioned in the Constitution
 Free Persons
 Free Persons bound to Service for a Number
of Years
 Indians Not Taxed
 All Other Persons; that is, those held in bondage
Note:
While the term “race” and the phrase “previous condition of
servitude” are used in several amendments to the Constitution,
the only subsequent mention of a specific racial group in the
Constitution is in the 14th amendment adopted in 1868. Indians
not taxed were excluded from the census count to be used in
allocating seats in the House of Representatives. A 1926 law
made Indians residing in the United States citizens, so the
concept of Indians not taxed no longer has any relevance.
Major National Issues and Controversies in Several Eras of US History:
Their Implications for How This Nation Measures Itself
From the Revolutionary to the Civil War
 Would the United States develop into an economically prosperous, strong
nation with a rapidly growing population, or would the American experiment
in democracy wither? Recall that in the War of 1812, the British sought
unsuccessfully to reestablish their colonial control of the US.
Thomas Jefferson strongly urged that the census add questions about
manufacturing activities. They were beginning in 1820.
 Would slavery be tolerated and what rights, if any, did African-Americans
have in free states or free blacks in slave states? What would be the status
of the large mixed race (black and white) population?
The Census, in 1850, began to identify the mulatto population.
 Was the United States destined to extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific? If
so, how could Indians be removed or confined to undesirable, isolated areas?
 Would the United States primarily be governed and populated by AngloSaxon Protestants from northern Europe or would immigrants greatly change
the United States?
A question about place of birth was added to the Census in 1850.
Major National Issues and Controversies in Several Eras of US History
Their Implications for How This Nation Measures Itself
From the Civil to the First World War
 Would the immigration of eastern and southern Europeans, and, potentially
many Asians, fundamentally alter the United States in unfavorable ways
and ultimately destroy this experiment in democracy?
From 1880 through 1910, questions were added to the census to identify
the origins of first- and second-generation immigrants, the languages they
spoke and their literacy. After the 1880s many immigrants were southern
and eastern European Catholics and Jews who were portrayed as ignorant
unassimilatable and a threat to the wages of native born workers. By 1924,
restrictive laws limited immigration from Europe. Efforts to end Asian
immigration began in 1870, and by 1890, legal immigration from Asia ended.
 Concerns about the control of contagious disease after the Civil War: the
rise of the Public Health Movement
By the 1870s, those who studied morbidity and mortality realized that most
deaths resulted from contagious diseases and that water and sewer
systems in urban areas drastically reduced mortality. Supplemental
schedules were added to the census beginning in 1880 to measure some
conditions of urban life. Questions were also added to the census interview
to measure mortality, and beginning in 1890, fertility.
 Urbanization and the shift from agriculture to industry
Following the Civil War, the nation’s economic base shifted from
farming to industrial production, and by 1920, the majority of the
population lived in urban areas. Congress asked the census to gather
information about cities and about the occupations – but not economic
status of adults.
Major National Issues and Controversies in Several Eras of US History:
Their Implications For How This Nation Measures Itself
From the First World War to the
Civil Rights Decade: The 1960s
 From the time of President Washington to the present, the federal
government played a key role in the economic development of the nation.
With industrialization, urbanization and advances in both economics and
technology, the role of the federal government in sustaining economic
growth became much greater. The Great Depression―from 1929 through
1940―marked a turning point for federal government activities. We now
assume that the government’s monetary and fiscal policies can prevent
economic chaos. As a nation, we gradually came to recognize the need for
a comprehensive, modern statistical system that would measure economic
trends and the human capital of residents.
The Census of 1940―The First Modern Census
 For the first time, this census asked questions about:
Occupation
Industry
Class of worker
Employment status in some detail
Earnings
Educational attainment, rather than literacy
Geographic migration within the United States
 For the first time, the census used a sampling to cut costs and reduce
respondent burden, while still obtaining reliable information for small
areas.
Developments in Census Taking Since World War II
1940 – Influenced by the economic chaos of the Depression and
developments in social science methodology, this was the first
“modern” census. For the first time detailed questions were asked
about employment, earnings, occupations, industry, class of worker and
recent geographic migration. This was the first enumeration to use
sampling.

1950 – Last census to depend exclusively upon enumerators to gather
data.

1960 – Enumeration forms were mailed to all addresses and the
householders were told to fill them out. Enumerators picked them up.
For the first time, this census used a “short form” including just a few
basic questions for all households and a “long form” questionnaire
asking many questions of a 20% sample of households.

1970 – This was the first census to rely upon the mail-out, mail-back
procedure. This census used a self-identification procedure for race
and, for the first time a separate question sought to identify the
Spanish-origin population. The long-form questions asked in this and
subsequent censuses were similar to those first asked in 1940.

1980 – The ancestry question replaced the birthplace of parents
questions that had been asked since 1870. The mail-out, mail-back
procedure was used and there was increased concern about net census
undercount. A Spanish-origin question was asked of all persons for the
first time.
 1990 ― Although the census itself included most of the questions asked
for a half century, there was immense political controversy about
possible adjustments for net census undercount.
 2000 ― There was great controversy how the census would be taken
and whether sampling procedures could be used to adjust for net
census undercount.
 2010 – The census will ask all householders just six questions: age, sex,
Spanish-origin, race, tenure and place of residence.
The annual
American Community Survey has replaced the long form that had been
used from 1960 through 2000 providing much more frequent data about
social, economic and demographic trends.
Census Undercount as a Civil Rights and Political Issue
 Prior to the Civil Rights decade, census results were used primarily to
determine how many Congressional seats went to each state. The 1962
Baker v. Carr decision ruled that all elected legislative bodies must
represent geographic districts of equal population size.
 Developments in demography and in sampling in the 1950s, facilitated the
scientific measurement of net census undercount
 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 increased
the importance of census data for determining the implementation of civil
rights programs.
 Civil rights organizations in the late 1960s and 1970s recognized that net
census undercount diminished the political representation of largely
African-American areas.
 Mayors in the 1970s and 1980-both Republicans and Democratsrecognized that net census undercount diminished the political
representation of large cities and their fair share of federal revenue.
 Because immigrants primarily settle in seven states and because of
internal migration to the South and West, two-thirds of the states grew less
rapidly than the national average in the 1980s and 1990s, putting them at
risk of losing seats in Congress and the Electoral College. Members of
Congress from these states often blamed their loss of representation on
net census undercount.
Census Undercount, Political Controversy and the
Newt Gingrich v. William Clinton Litigation
 Developments in demography and in sampling in the 1950s, facilitated the
scientific measurement of net census undercount
Estimates of Net Census Undercount in Recent Censuses
Year
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
Total
Population
5.4%
4.1
3.1
2.7
1.2
1.8
1.2
Non-Black
Population
5.0%
3.8
2.7
2.2
0.8
1.3
1.0
Black
Population
8.4%
7.5
6.6
6.5
4.5
5.7
2.1
 In February, 1996; President’s Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce, Ron
Brown, announced the administration’s plans for Census 2000. To save
money and improve quality, it called for sampling both to complete the
count and adjust for undercount.
 The Republicans, in 1994, won control of the House of Representation
for the first time since 1946. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich feared
that the Clinton Administration would contort census counts so as to
favor the election of Democrats. He refused to let Congress allocate any
funds for a census that used sampling.
 U. S. Department of Commerce v. U. S. House of Representatives – the
ruling decision for Census 2000 (Decided January 25, 1999)
With the Clinton Administration and the Republican Congress
stalemated regarding Census 2000, Speaker of the House Gingrich filed
a pre-emptive suit against President Clinton seeking a Supreme Court
decision that would bar the use of sampling. If there were no sampling,
it would be impossible to scientifically adjust census data for net
undercount. In a contentious 5 to 4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled
against sampling. Justices Scalia and Thomas argued that that since the
framers of the Constitution did not mention sampling, they must have
intended that the census would be an actual. Justice Breyer argued that
the framers intended for the count to be complete using any effective
and fair method designated by Congress. Justice O’Connor was the
swing vote. She objected to sampling for congressional apportionment.