Dr. John V. Richardson Jr.UCLA DIS 280 “Research Methods”

Fall 2009

US Constitution

Article 1, Section 2 says:

"[An] 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.”

Congress met in 1789, hence 1790 became the first census

DefinitionsEnumeration means

“a catalog of list” (1615-1625) or“to ascertain the number of; count” (1640-1650)

“Name one by one; specify, as in a list” for the purpose of determining the number of

inhabitants for proportional representation in the House of Representatives (i.e., "Representatives . . . shall be apportioned among the several States . . . according to their respective Numbers....)

English Legal Dictionaries

Leading legal dictionaries of the late 1700s:

Jacob's Dictionary (10th ed., London 1782)

Cunningham's Dictionary (3d ed., London 1783)

Burn's Dictionary (1st ed., London 1792)

Respective Numbers…14th Amendment, Section 2: “Representatives

shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed." 

So, the Constitution uses the word “numbers” or “persons.”

The Constitution does not use the word inhabitants nor “citizens,” nor “legal residents,” nor “those lawfully present.”

1790 Census Population & Housing The first enumeration began on Monday, August 2, 1790, little more

than a year after the inauguration of President Washington and shortly before the second session of the first Congress ended. The Congress assigned responsibility for the 1790 census to the marshals of the U.S. judicial districts under an act that, with minor modifications and extensions, governed census-taking through 1840.

The law required that every household be visited and that completed census schedules be posted in ‘‘two of the most public places within [each jurisdiction], there to remain for the inspection of all concerned...’’ and that‘ ‘the aggregate amount of each description of persons’’ for every district be transmitted to the President.

The six inquiries in 1790 called for the name of the head of the family and the number of persons in each household of the following descriptions: Free White males of 16 years and upward (to assess the country’s industrial and military potential), free White males under 16 years, free White females, all other free persons (by sex and color), and slaves.

SOURCE: http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/decennial/1790.htm

Marshal’s OathThe oath or affirmation of the marshal shall be:

“I, A.B., Marshall of the district of _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will well cause to be made a just and perfect enumeration and description of all persons resident within my district…." 

SOURCE: “Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States…”

Census QuestionsManuscript census, 1790-1840

Head of household and date of birth, military service, immigration and naturalization, occupation and economic data

35,300 immigrants from Scotland in the 1790 census based on surname alone (according to Arlene H. Eakle)

Manuscript census, 1850-1930parent’s place of origin

Notes: 1890, a 1921 US Commerce Department fire burned

most of the records1930, last available due to privacy restrictions

13 USC (sections)Responsibility:

US Bureau of the Census within the US Department of Commerce (Section 2)

Questionnaires:number, form, and scope (Section 5)

Refusal or neglect to answer questions (section 221) …$100 fine

False answers (section 221) …$500 fine