Data Literacy for Social Studies, Population of the United States Decennially from 1790 to 1860

The population of the United States increased dramatically during this period of history. At the first Census, in 1790, the population was 3,919,827. By 1860, it was over eight times that number, at 31,443,321. We used U.S. Census Office statistics from the 1850 and 1860 Censuses to compile and visualize population numbers decennially from 1790 to 1860. The spreadsheets found here compile data from two historical tables. The first table in the first sheet is from the 1853 report following the 1850 census, which shows data from every decennial census between 1790 and 1850. The  second table in the first sheet is from the 1864 report following the 1860 census, in which they chose to include only the 1860 numbers. We took data from both tables to recreate the table in the second sheet and then visualize the graph in the third sheet. The categories we used were the same categories used in the census schedules, but we modernized some of the language. It should also be noted that the 1820 census population schedule included the category "all other persons except Indians not taxed." This was used to count members of households who were neither White nor Black, and were not Native Americans living on reserved lands, who were not considered U.S. citizens and were not subject to taxes. This might have included, for example, Native American women married to White men. Because this category was only on the 1820 schedule and was a relatively small number, we did not include the category in the graph key. However, the number is included in the total population, and you can see it in the recreated table.