Description

No other official record or group of records is as historically significant as the 1790 census of the United States. The taking of this census marked the inauguration of a process that continues right up to our own day--the enumeration at ten-year intervals of the entire American population. In its very continuity the census is a mirror image of the evolution of the American republic, and the census of 1790, the first official enumeration of all heads of household residing in the infant republic, is the true starting point of this process, the place where we can point a finger and say with confidence, "This is where it started! From here on we deal with facts!" The 1790 census is an authentic chronicle of the American people during the period immediately following the Revolution and at the time of the adoption of the Constitution. It is certain that no other set of records in the government archives contains as much information about ordinary citizens at this momentous period in history. In each of the published census volumes the schedules are arranged by county and in some cases by minor subdivisions of counties, thus enabling the researcher to narrow his field of research to a particular judicial district. Each volume is separately indexed, so the researcher has only a single alphabet to consult for each state. Heads of families, arranged in alphabetical order under each county and district, are listed with the following information after each name: Number of free white males of sixteen years and upward; number of free white males under sixteen years; number of free white females; number of all other free persons; number of slaves.