1790 United States census

The United States Census of 1790 was the first United States Census.  It recorded the population of the United States as of August 2, 1790. In the First Census, the population of the United States was 3,929,214.

Data was collected from all thirteen states (Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia), and districts and territories that would become Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Maine.

Reaction
Both Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and President George Washington didn't fully believe in the results. They believed that there were more people in the United States than what the census said. A reason why there may be more people would be because of the people living farther apart, bad roads that would go to where people may live, limited technology, and people simply not giving any information.

Loss of information
The records for many states were lost sometime between 1790 and 1830. Almost one third of the original census data have been lost or destroyed since the original census.  These include some 1790 data from: Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Vermont. The data can still be proven in many secondary sources about the first census.

Data
Census data included the name of the head of the family. They put people into these categories: free white males at least 16 years old (to figure out the country's industrial and military potential), free white males under 16 years old, free white females, all other free persons (reported by sex and color), and slaves. The Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson told marshals to get data from all thirteen states (Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia), and from the Southwest Territory.

17.8% of the people were slaves. This is the highest percentage of slaves in any American census.

 State  Free white males of 16 years and upward, including heads of families Free white males under 16 years Free white females, including heads of families All other free persons Slaves Enslaved % of state population Total % of US population Vermont 22,435 22,328 40,505 255 16The census of 1790, published in 1791, reports 16 slaves in Vermont. Subsequently, and up to 1860, the number is given as 17. An examination of the original manuscript allegedly shows that there never were any slaves in Vermont. The original error occurred in preparing the results for publication, when 16 persons, returned as "Free colored", were classified as "Slave". But this claim is disputed by at least one historian. 0.02% 85,539Corrected figures are 85,425, or 114 less than the figures published in 1790, due to an error of addition in the returns for each of the towns of Fairfield, Milton, Shelburne, and Williston, in the county of Chittenden; Brookfield, Newbury, Randolph, and Strafford, in the county of Orange; Castleton, Clarendon, Hubbardton, Poultney, Rutland, Shrewsburg, and Wallingford, in the county of Rutland; Dummerston, Guilford, Halifax, and Westminster, in the county of Windham; and Woodstock, in the county of Windsor. 2.2% New Hampshire 36,086 34,851 70,160 630 158 0.1% 141,885 3.6% Maine 24,384 24,748 46,870 538 0 0.0% 96,540 2.5% Massachusetts 95,453 87,289 190,582 5,463 0 0.0% 378,787The figures for Massachusetts do not include the population of Maine. Though Maine was then a part of Massachusetts, the Maine figures were compiled separately, and are shown on the line for Maine. 9.7% Rhode Island 16,019 15,799 32,652 3,407 948 1.4% 68,825 1.5% Connecticut 60,523 54,403 117,448 2,808 2,764 1.2% 237,946 6.1% New York 83,700 78,122 152,320 4,654 21,324 6.3% 340,120 8.7% New Jersey 45,251 41,416 83,287 2,762 11,423 6.2% 184,139 4.7% Pennsylvania 110,788 106,948 206,363 6,537 3,737 0.9% 434,373 11.2% Delaware 11,783 12,143 22,384 3,899 8,887 15.0% 59,094Corrected figures are 59,096, or 2 more than figures published in 1790, due to error in addition. 1.5% Maryland 55,915 51,339 101,395 8,043 103,036 32.2% 319,728 8.2% Virginia 110,936 116,135 215,046 12,866 292,627 39.1% 747,610The figures for Virginia do not include the population of Kentucky. Though Kentucky was then a part of Virginia, the Kentucky figures were compiled separately, and are shown on the line for Kentucky. The Virginia figures do include the portion of Virginia that later became the state of West Virginia. 19.2% Kentucky 15,154 17,057 28,922 114 12,430 16.9% 73,677 1.9% North Carolina 69,988 77,506 140,710 4,975 100,572 25.5% 393,751 10.1% South Carolina 35,576 37,722 66,880 1,801 107,094 43.0% 249,073 6.4% Georgia 13,103 14,044 25,739 398 29,264 35.5% 82,548 2.1% Total 807,094 791,850  1,541,263 59,150 694,280 17.8% 3,893,635 99.9%

City rankings
 Rank  City  State  Population  Region (2016)  Population (2010) 01  New York  New York  33,131  Northeast  1,585,873 [Manhattan only] 02  Philadelphia  Pennsylvania  28,522  Northeast  1,526,006 03  Boston  Massachusetts  18,320  Northeast  617,594 04  Charleston  South Carolina  16,359  South  120,083 05  Baltimore  Maryland  13,503  South  620,961 06  Northern Liberties  Pennsylvania  9,913  Northeast  N/A 07  Salem  Massachusetts  7,921  Northeast  41,340 08  Newport  Rhode Island  6,716  Northeast  24,672 09  Providence  Rhode Island  6,380  Northeast  178,042 10  Marblehead  Massachusetts  5,661  Northeast  19,808 11  Southwark  Pennsylvania  5,661  Northeast  N/A 12  Gloucester  Massachusetts  5,317  Northeast  28,789 13  Newburyport  Massachusetts  4,837  Northeast  17,416 14  Portsmouth  New Hampshire  4,720  Northeast  21,233 15  Sherburne  Massachusetts  4,555  Northeast  10,172 16  Middleborough  Massachusetts  4,526  Northeast  23,116 17  New Haven  Connecticut  4,487  Northeast  129,779 18  Taunton  Massachusetts  3,804  Northeast  55,874 19  Richmond  Virginia  3,761  South  204,214 20  Albany  New York  3,498  Northeast  97,856 21  New Bedford  Massachusetts  3,313  Northeast  95,072 22  Beverly  Massachusetts  3,290  Northeast  39,502 23  Plymouth  Massachusetts  2,995  Northeast  56,468 24  Norfolk  Virginia  2,959  South  242,803 25  Rochester  New Hampshire  2,857  Northeast  29,752 26  Petersburg  Virginia  2,828  South  32,420 27  Alexandria  Virginia  2,748  South  139,966 28  Hartford  Connecticut  2,683  Northeast  124,775 29  Londonderry  New Hampshire  2,622  Northeast  24,129 30  Gilmanton  New Hampshire  2,613  Northeast  3,777 31  Hudson  New York  2,584  Northeast  6,713

References

Category:United States Census
Category:1790
Category:1790s in the United States