1870 United States census explained

1870 United States census
Country:United States
Population:38,925,598
Percent Change: 22.6%
Region Type:state
Most Populous:New York
4,382,759
Least Populous:Nevada
42,941
Authority:Census Office
Previous Census:1860 United States census
Previous Year:1860
Next Census:1880 United States census
Next Year:1880
Superintendent:Francis Amasa Walker

The 1870 United States census was the ninth United States census. It was conducted by the Census Office from June 1, 1870, to August 23, 1871. The 1870 census was the first census to provide detailed information on the African American population, only five years after the culmination of the Civil War when slaves were granted freedom. The total population was 38,925,598 with a resident population of 38,558,371 individuals, a 22.6% increase from 1860.[1]

The 1870 census's population estimate was controversial, as many believed it underestimated the true population numbers, especially in New York and Pennsylvania.[2] This was the first census in which all 100 largest cities recorded populations of over 10,000. This was also the last federal census conducted using the US Marshal Service as enumerators.

Census Act of 1850

The Census Act of 1850 established the primary machinery of the ninth census. The Census Office, working within the Department of the Interior, oversaw the recording and tabulation of results gathered by assistant marshals, who were hired and supervised by federal marshals. Two new structural changes during the 1870 census occurred: marshals had to return the completed population questionnaire to the Census Office in September and penalties for refusing to reply to enumerator questions were extended to encompass every question on the questionnaires.

Census organization

The commonly past-used slave questionnaires were redesigned to reflect the American society after the Civil War. The five schedules for the 1870 census were the following: General Population, Mortality, Agriculture, Products of Industry, and Social Statistics.

The general population saw a 22.6% increase to 38,555,983 individuals in 1870. Charges of an undercount, however, were brought against Francis Amasa Walker, the Superintendent of the 1870 census.

Mortality rates in 1870, in general, decreased as a fraction of the total population by <0.1% from 1860 and by 0.1% from 1850. The lower death rates indicate that the standard of living increased, due to some exogenous factor, over the period of twenty years from 1850 to 1870.

In terms of products of industry, total U.S. wealth increased by 17.3% from 1860 to 1870, to reach an assessed wealth of $14,178,986,732. The four largest state contributors to this wealth were New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, in that order. Most of the wealth was concentrated in the developed Northeast region, as newer territories like Wyoming were beginning to develop their young economies.

The 1870 census was the first of its kind to record the nativity of the American population. This social statistic helped determine which areas were more highly composed of immigrants than native-born Americans. New York City had the most foreign-born individuals, with 419,094 foreigners, who comprised 44.5% of the city's total population. Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, and San Francisco also had a great population of foreigners that made up a significant fraction of their total populations. Therefore, a great ethnic and cultural change was witnessed from 1860 to 1870, as part of the population growth was due to immigrants moving in and a shuffling of residents across state borders.

Census results

True population!Total United States!38,925,598
States only38,205,598
Territories720,000
Constitutional/resident population*Total United States38,558,371
States only**38,115,641
Territories442,730
White populationTotal United States33,589,377
States only33,203,128
Territories386,249
Black populationTotal United States4,880,009
States only4,835,106
Territories44,903
Indian (Native American) population (on reservations)Total United States357,981
States only89,957
Territories268,024
Indian (Native American) population (not on reservations)Total United States25,731
States only21,228
Territories4,503
Chinese populationTotal United States63,199
States only56,124
Territories7,075
Japanese populationTotal United States55
States only55
Territories0
[3]

*The constitutional population excludes the populations of Native Americans "maintaining their tribal relations and living upon Government reservations" and "the newly acquired district of Alaska."[3]

**When considering congressional apportionment, the total state population of the Constitutional population was used.

Census questions

Schedule 1 of the 1870 census collected the following information:[4]

  1. Dwelling-houses numbered in the order of Visitation
  2. Families numbered in the order of visitation
  3. Names
  4. Age
  5. Sex
  6. Color
  7. Profession
  8. Value of Real Estate
  9. Value of Personal Estate
  10. Place of Birth (State, Territory, Country)
  11. Father's Birthplace*
  12. Mother's Birthplace*
  13. If born within the year, state month
  14. If married within the year, state month
  15. Attended School within the Year (Y/N)
  16. Cannot Read (Y/N)
  17. Cannot Write (Y/N)
  18. Deaf & dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, or convict
  19. Male Citizens of U.S. of 21 years of age or upwards
  20. Male Citizens of U.S. of 21 years of age and upwards where rights to vote is denied on grounds other than rebellion or other crime**[5]

*If born in another country

**This question asked if one's right to vote is being denied due to a legal matter other than rebellion or conviction. Such circumstances included being unable to pay poll taxes, or being unable to pass a literacy test.

Full documentation for the 1870 population census, including census forms and enumerator instructions, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

Population undercount

Although Francis Walker, the Superintendent of the 1870 census, defended the quality of the census, arguing that standardized, clear, and statistical approaches and practices were carried out across all regions of the United States, the public at the time was disappointed in the national growth rate and suspected underenumeration. With especially bitter complaints coming from New York and Philadelphia claiming up to a third of the population was not counted, the President made the rare move to order a recount in those areas. While it was thought a large fraction of the population was not counted for being indoors in the wintry cold, newer estimates resulted in only a 2.5% increase in Philadelphia's population and a 2% increase in New York's.

This controversy of the 1870 undercount resurfaced in 1890, when the national growth rate between 1880 and 1890 was discovered to be much lower than it was between 1870 and 1880. Critics then asserted that the 1870 population must have been underenumerated by over 1.2 million people to account for the discrepancy between growth rates; it was presumed that the growth rate in 1880 had to be exaggerated because of the 1870 undercount. Despite the fact that modern investigations have yet to quantify the exact effect of the undercount, most modern social scientists do not believe the undercount was as severe as 1890 investigators assumed. Today most analyzers compare the 1870 undercount to the non-response rates seen in most modern census data.

State rankings

Rank State/Territory Population
01 New York 4,382,759
02 Pennsylvania 3,521,951
03 Ohio 2,665,260
04 Illinois 2,539,891
05 Missouri 1,721,295
06 Indiana 1,680,637
07 Massachusetts 1,457,351
08 Kentucky 1,321,011
09 Tennessee 1,258,520
10 Virginia 1,225,163
11 Iowa 1,194,020
12 Georgia 1,184,109
13 Michigan 1,184,059
14 North Carolina 1,071,361
15 Wisconsin 1,054,670
16 Alabama 996,992
17 New Jersey 906,096
18 Mississippi 827,922
19 Texas 818,579
20 Maryland 780,894
21 Louisiana 726,915
22 South Carolina 705,606
23 Maine 626,915
24 California 560,247
25 Connecticut 537,454
26 Arkansas 484,471
27 West Virginia 442,014
28 Minnesota 439,706
29 Kansas 364,399
30 Vermont 330,551
31 New Hampshire 318,300
32 Rhode Island 217,353
33 Florida 187,748
X District of Columbia[6] 131,700
34 Delaware 125,015
35 Nebraska 122,993
X New Mexico 91,874
36 Oregon 90,923
X Utah 86,336
37 Nevada 42,941[7]
X Colorado 39,864
X Washington 23,955
X Montana 20,595
X Idaho 14,999
X South Dakota 11,776
X Arizona 9,658
X Wyoming 9,118
X North Dakota 2,405

Notes

City rankings

Rank City State Population Region (2016)[8]
01 942,292 Northeast
02 674,022 Northeast
03 396,099 Northeast
04 310,864 Midwest
05 298,977 Midwest
06 267,354 South
07 250,526 Northeast
08 216,239 Midwest
09 191,418 South
10 149,473 West
11 117,714 Northeast
12 109,199 South
13 105,059 Northeast
14 100,753 South
15 92,829 Midwest
16 86,076 Northeast
17 82,546 Northeast
18 79,577 Midwest
19 71,440 Midwest
20 69,422 Northeast
21 68,904 Northeast
22 62,386 Northeast
23 53,180 Northeast
24 51,038 South
25 50,840 Northeast
26 48,956 South
27 48,244 Midwest
28 46,465 Northeast
29 43,051 Northeast
30 41,105 Northeast
31 40,928 Northeast
32 40,226 South
33 39,634 Northeast
34 37,180 Northeast
35 35,092 Northeast
36 33,930 Northeast
37 33,579 Northeast
38 32,260 Midwest
39 32,034 South
40 31,584 Midwest
41 31,413 Northeast
42 31,274 Midwest
43 30,841 South
44 30,473 Midwest
45 28,921 Northeast
46 28,804 Northeast
47 28,323 Northeast
48 28,235 South
49 28,233 Northeast
50 26,766 Northeast
51 26,703 Northeast
52 25,865 South
53 24,505 South
54 24,117 Northeast
55 24,052 Midwest
56 23,536 Northeast
57 23,104 Northeast
58 22,874 Northeast
59 22,849 Midwest
60 21,830 Midwest
61 21,789 South
62 21,320 Northeast
63 20,910 Northeast
64 20,832 Northeast
65 20,495 Northeast
66 20,297 Northeast
67 20,233 Northeast
68 20,080 Northeast
69 20,045 Northeast
70 20,038 Midwest
71 20,030 Midwest
72 19,646 Northeast
73 19,565 Midwest
74 19,280 South
75 19,229 South
76 18,969 Northeast
77 18,950 South
78 18,629 Northeast
79 18,547 Northeast
80 18,434 Midwest
81 18,289 Northeast
82 17,873 Midwest
83 17,718 Midwest
84 17,364 Midwest
85 17,225 Northeast
86 17,014 Northeast
87 16,653 Northeast
88 16,507 Midwest
89 16,283 West
90 16,103 Midwest
91 16,083 Midwest
92 16,030 Northeast
93 15,863 Northeast
94 15,396 Midwest
95 15,389 South
95 15,389 Northeast
97 15,357 Northeast
98 15,087 South
99 15,058 Northeast
100 14,930 Midwest

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1870 Fast Facts – History . Census History Staff . U.S. Census Bureau . EN-US. April 28, 2019.
  2. Munroe, James Phinney (1923) A Life of Francis Amasa Walker, Holt, p. 111 Conditions for the work were therefore so adverse that the new superintendent (Walker), with characteristic frankness, repudiated in many instances the results of the Census, denouncing them as false or misleading and pointing out the plain reasons. p. 113 When the appointments of enumerators were made in 1870 the entire lot was taken from the Republican party, and most of those in the South were negroes. Some of the negroes could not read or write, and the enumeration of the Southern population was done very badly. My judgement was that the census of 1870 erred as to the colored population between 350,000 and 400,000
  3. Web site: 1870 Census: A Compendium of the Ninth Census (June 1, 1870). www.census.gov. EN-US. April 29, 2019.
  4. Web site: 1870 Federal Census Schedule 1 Form. National Archives.
  5. Web site: 1870 Enumerator Instructions (to Assistant Marshals) . IPUMS USA . August 27, 2019.
  6. The District of Columbia is not a state but was created with the passage of the Residence Act of 1790.
  7. Includes a population of 450 for Rio Virgin County, which was located in Nevada but enumerated as part of Utah in the 1870 census.
  8. Web site: Regions and Divisions . U.S. Census Bureau . September 9, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161203020637/http://www.census.gov/econ/census/help/geography/regions_and_divisions.html . December 3, 2016 . dead .

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