The Census: A Brief History
Every decade since 1790 the federal government has counted our population , documenting our national growth from 3.9 million people living on the Eastern seaboard in 1790 to nearly 283 million people spread across the continent in 2000. It is anticipated that more than 310 million Americans will be counted next year.
The Census is a Constitutional Requirement
“The Great Compromise” of the Constitutional Convention decided to have one legislative body represent the states (the Senate) and the other body to represent the people ( House of Representatives). This settled competing interests between the large and small states and ensured adequate representation of both state and individual interests in Congress. Article I requires that the federal government count the population at least every ten years to allocate representation in the U.S. House of Representatives among the states. The U.S. Census was the first constitutionally required national census in the world and the first used to apportion legislative representation.
The Constitution (as amended by the 14th Admendment) stipulates that the census count all inhabitants, regardless of citizenship, voting status, age, race or gender. This method was chosen because in 1788 one became a citizen of a state and then of the United States. After the Civil War, the federal government set standards for citizenship. The size of the Congressional delegation from each state is determined based on the decennial population count.
The First Counts
Federal marshals conducted the 1790 census by going door-to-door. It took 18 months and counted 3.4 million people. The 1830 Census used the first printed forms instead of pieces of papers or notebooks. The census of 1840 significantly expanded the amount of information collected, including information on Revolutionary War pensioners, schools and colleges, literacy, occupations, idiocy, and insanity, as well as commerce and industry. Since the first census questions had grown from 6 to 70.
In 1849, Congress created the Census Board to undertake the 1850 count. In the later portion of the 19th century, the census increased the accuracy, detail, speed and cost. Machine tabulation was introduced in the 1890 census. The 1940 Census was the first to use a more detailed questionnaire, or long form, for sampling of the population to track specific trends within the overall population. In 1950, shortly after their invention, UNIVAC 1 computers were used to tabulate a portion of the mail-back census. By 1970, census forms were mailed to all households. Enumerators visited those households (about 30% of total households) which had not returned the form. Accordingly, the cost of the count rose from six cents per person 1860 to16 cents per person in 1900. By comparison, it cost $15.99 per person in 2000 ( unadjusted) while the 2010 Census will cost about $25 per person.
A New Role in a Modern Nation
At the outset of World Wars I and II, the Census Bureau prepared estimates on draft age men and industrial capacity. The Bureau became aware of the undercount among minorities in 1941 when they significantly underestimated the number of black men of draft age. The issue of undercounting minorities and low income residents has plagued the Census Bureau since the 1940’s. The Bureau has devoted extensive resources to trying to reduce the undercount and in 2000 had significant success in reducing the undercount among minorities and low income.
The undercount declined from 5.4% in 1940 to 1.6% in1990. However, in 1990, the differential undercount between white and minority residents was greater than ever. A concerted effort in 2000 reduced the undercount to .01% nation wide. The black-white differential, while reduced, was 2.8%. With the increase of grant-in-aid programs run by the federal government, the census has played an increasingly important role in state-federal relations. States have come to depend upon the head count to determine the proportion of federal social spending.
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