04_ACT_FedCensus_OlympiaTerr_1860
5. A federal census enumerates and identifies every resident of the United
States every ten years. This is one page from the federal census, in a
neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, 1870.
Where was this census taken?
When was it taken?
What is the month of this census?
Find Baltimore on a map. It was and is the largest city in Maryland.
Describe the household of Rebecca Mitchell and James Mitchell.
Look at the other information gathered on this page. What else can you tell
from the columns of this census? For example, where were people born? What
races were they? Where did whites live in this neighborhood?
What did people do to make their living?
How would you describe this neighborhood, in 1870 Baltimore?
Do a census of the students in your class, just as this census taker did, going
from student to student and filling out a form.
Why is the census taken in the United States every ten years? What does the
census have to do with “apportionment” in the U.S. Congress?
Write a story about this neighborhood in Baltimore in 1870, choosing three of the
people on this page as your characters, using their names, ages and races.
Write a one-paragraph biography of Charles Mitchell, based on what you know
from these documents.