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Natural increase
- In the 130 years from the first federal census of the United States in 1790, the American population increased from about 4 million men to almost 107 million persons. This was predominantly due to natural increase, early driven by high birth rates and moderate motrality levels and after the Civil War by declining death rates.
www.nber.org › papers › h0056
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When did the population of the colonies increase?
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The population of the colonies that later became the United States increased steadily in the decades prior to, and including, the American revolution. The first decennial census, mandated in the U.S. Constitution, took place in 1790.
The total white population in 1790 was about 80% of British ancestry, and would go on to roughly double by natural increase every 25 years. From about 1675 onward, the native-born population of what would become the United States would never again drop below 85% of the total.
In an important rebuttal to Sheffield, Tench Coxe argued that the census revealed continuing population growth, which, in turn, attested to the prosperity and overall bright future of an independent America.
- Authorizing Legislation
- Enumeration
- Further Information
The first census began more than a year after the inauguration of President Washington and shortly before the second session of the first Congress ended. Congress assigned responsibility for the 1790 census to the marshals of the U.S. judicial districts under an act which, with minor modifications and extensions, governed census taking through 1840...
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: 1. Free White males of 16 years and upward (to assess the country's industrial and military potential) 2. Free White males under 16 years 3. Free White females 4. All other free persons 5. Slaves Under t...
A wide variety of historical statistics from this and other decades is available in Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970. It is available as a PDF [74.4MB] or 2-part Z...Historically, it has followed a trail that reflects the sweep of the nation's brush stroke across America's population canvas—the settling of the frontier, waves of immigration and the migration west and south. Since 1790, the location has moved in a westerly, then a more southerly pattern.
The 1790 United States census was the first United States census. It recorded the population of the whole United States as of Census Day, August 2, 1790, as mandated by Article 1, Section 2, of the Constitution and applicable laws.
Only two percent of Americans live on farms or ranches today, but in 1790 ninety percent of the population did. What caused this shift? The movement of populations from rural to urban areas is called urbanization .
