The United States census of 1850 was the seventh census of the United States. Conducted by the Census Office, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 23,191,876—an increase of 35.9 percent over the 17,069,453 persons enumerated during the 1840 census. The total population included 3,204,313 slaves.
Although the official date of the census date was June 1, 1850,[1] completed census forms indicate that the surveys continued to be made throughout the rest of the year.[2][3]
This was the first census where there was an attempt to collect information about every member of every household; women and children were named. Slaves were included by gender and estimated age on Slave Schedules, listed by the name of the owner. Prior to 1850, census records had recorded only the name of the head of the household and broad statistical accounting of other household members (three children under age five, one woman between the age of 35 and 40, etc.). This was also the first census to ask about place of birth of free residents.
The 1850 census, Schedule 1, Free Inhabitants, collected the following information:[4]
name
age
sex
color (white, black or mulatto) for each person
whether deaf and dumb, blind, psychologically ill or idiotic
value of real estate owned (required of all free persons)
profession, occupation or trade of each male over 15 years of age
place (state, territory or country) of birth
whether married within the year
whether attended school within the year
whether unable to read and write (for persons over 20)
whether a pauper or convict
Full documentation for the 1850 population census, including census forms and enumerator instructions, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.
Economy
The 1850 United States census collected a great amount of data that gave insight into the state of the U.S. economy in 1850. Some of the data revealed the growth of the economy with regard to agricultural and manufactured production, international trade, federal debt, taxation, transportation, education, and land expansion.
Agricultural Production
This census calculated the total land by state (in square miles), the total production of major goods and livestock per state (in respective units), the total value of each good produced, the total number of plantations per state, and various other statistics. The total agricultural production between in 1850 was calculated at about 1.3 billion dollars.
Manufactured Production
This census included the total manufactured production (in dollars), the total amount of capital invested, the total value of wages paid, the percent of profit (by state and total), the profit by state of major industries (cotton, wool, various iron work, breweries, fishing, salt), and other less significant statistics. Total manufactured production was valued at just over one billion dollars. This is a great increase over the totals estimated in 1820 and 1840. Also, in total, the manufacturing industry recorded an overall profit of 43%.
International Trade
The 1850 census contains the total value of imports and exports by state, statistics and names of the major imports and exports, the total values of shipping by state, and the value of imports and exports with various individual countries. The United States traded most with the United Kingdom. The imports and exports with the United Kingdom were both valued around 145 million dollars.
Federal Debt
This census contains yearly federal debt totals, total federal revenues, and total expenditures from 1790 to 1853. The total debt of the United States on July 1, 1854, was roughly 47.2 million dollars.
Taxation
The census contains some calculation of total annual federal taxes, but it is incomplete. It does however, give state taxation totals.
Transportation and Communication
This census calculates the total cost, size, and quantity of railroads and canals. The funded debt for railroads and canals in 1853 was 130 million. Their gross earnings were more than 38 million dollars. This census also contains estimates for growth in mileage of telegraphic lines in the United States. In 1853 the country contains 89 telegraph lines that stretched 23,261 miles (37,435 km). When published in 1854, the country had an estimated 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of telegraphic lines, a drastic increase.
Education
This census displays the advances of the United States in education and literacy by documenting the number of libraries, the number of schools (public, private, and colleges), state literacy rates, the total newspaper production and consumption, the educational levels of differing races, the total value of tuition costs, the amount of federal land given for education, and other various statistics.
Land Expansion
The 1850 census shows the great amount of territorial expansion that took place in the United States, following the Admission of Texas, the Oregon Treaty, and the Treaty with Mexico following the war in 1848. These three pieces of territory totaled an addition of more than a million square miles to the nation. In 1850, the United States contained 31 states and 4 organized territories (Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah).
Significance
The 1850 United States census can be seen as a historical document that gives insight into the state of the nation's economy in 1850. It is much more detailed and provides more information than the 1840 census.
This census was conducted during a very important period of growth and innovation in the United States, the Industrial Revolution. The statistics in this census provide data on the rate of growth that was taking place in 1850, which resulted in the emergence of the United States as an economic world power. Many of the statistics were compared to those of Great Britain and other world powers. This shows where the United States stood economically relative to the rest of the world.
The Utah Territorial census was taken in 1851. Secretary Broughton Harris refused to certify the census of Utah territory. Harris complained that Brigham Young had conducted the census without him, claimed several irregularities, and consequently withheld funds reserved for the census.[11] The controversy contributed to Harris' decision to join other Runaway Officials of 1851 and abandon his post in Utah Territory. Relationships with the federal government continued to sour and eventually resulted in the Utah War.
Local government officials feared having an enslaved population might impede the territory's quest for statehood, since certain members of Congress were concerned about expansion of slavery into the western territories.[12] The 1850 census slave schedule for Utah Territory reported only 26 slaves, with a note that all of them were heading to California, and did not include any enslaved people remaining in the territory.[13] John David Smith estimates that there were 100 blacks in Utah by 1850, with two-thirds of them enslaved.[14]
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The United States census of 1850 was the seventh census of the United States Conducted by the Census Office it determined the resident population of the United States to be 23 191 876 an increase of 35 9 percent over the 17 069 453 persons enumerated during the 1840 census The total population included 3 204 313 slaves 1850 United States census 1840 June 1 1850 1850 06 01 1860 Seal of the United States Census BureauFilled out census taker s form from 1850 U S census including household of Abraham LincolnGeneral informationCountryUnited StatesResultsTotal population23 191 876 35 9 Most populous wbr stateNew York3 097 394Least populous wbr stateFlorida87 445Although the official date of the census date was June 1 1850 1 completed census forms indicate that the surveys continued to be made throughout the rest of the year 2 3 This was the first census where there was an attempt to collect information about every member of every household women and children were named Slaves were included by gender and estimated age on Slave Schedules listed by the name of the owner Prior to 1850 census records had recorded only the name of the head of the household and broad statistical accounting of other household members three children under age five one woman between the age of 35 and 40 etc This was also the first census to ask about place of birth of free residents Hinton Rowan Helper made extensive use of the 1850 census results in his influential anti slavery book The Impending Crisis of the South 1857 Contents 1 Census questions 2 Economy 3 Data availability 4 State rankings 5 City rankings 6 Controversy 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksCensus questions EditThe 1850 census Schedule 1 Free Inhabitants collected the following information 4 name age sex color white black or mulatto for each person whether deaf and dumb blind psychologically ill or idiotic value of real estate owned required of all free persons profession occupation or trade of each male over 15 years of age place state territory or country of birth whether married within the year whether attended school within the year whether unable to read and write for persons over 20 whether a pauper or convictFull documentation for the 1850 population census including census forms and enumerator instructions is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series Economy EditThe 1850 United States census collected a great amount of data that gave insight into the state of the U S economy in 1850 Some of the data revealed the growth of the economy with regard to agricultural and manufactured production international trade federal debt taxation transportation education and land expansion Agricultural Production This census calculated the total land by state in square miles the total production of major goods and livestock per state in respective units the total value of each good produced the total number of plantations per state and various other statistics The total agricultural production between in 1850 was calculated at about 1 3 billion dollars Manufactured Production This census included the total manufactured production in dollars the total amount of capital invested the total value of wages paid the percent of profit by state and total the profit by state of major industries cotton wool various iron work breweries fishing salt and other less significant statistics Total manufactured production was valued at just over one billion dollars This is a great increase over the totals estimated in 1820 and 1840 Also in total the manufacturing industry recorded an overall profit of 43 International Trade The 1850 census contains the total value of imports and exports by state statistics and names of the major imports and exports the total values of shipping by state and the value of imports and exports with various individual countries The United States traded most with the United Kingdom The imports and exports with the United Kingdom were both valued around 145 million dollars Federal Debt This census contains yearly federal debt totals total federal revenues and total expenditures from 1790 to 1853 The total debt of the United States on July 1 1854 was roughly 47 2 million dollars Taxation The census contains some calculation of total annual federal taxes but it is incomplete It does however give state taxation totals Transportation and Communication This census calculates the total cost size and quantity of railroads and canals The funded debt for railroads and canals in 1853 was 130 million Their gross earnings were more than 38 million dollars This census also contains estimates for growth in mileage of telegraphic lines in the United States In 1853 the country contains 89 telegraph lines that stretched 23 261 miles 37 435 km When published in 1854 the country had an estimated 30 000 miles 48 000 km of telegraphic lines a drastic increase Education This census displays the advances of the United States in education and literacy by documenting the number of libraries the number of schools public private and colleges state literacy rates the total newspaper production and consumption the educational levels of differing races the total value of tuition costs the amount of federal land given for education and other various statistics Land Expansion The 1850 census shows the great amount of territorial expansion that took place in the United States following the Admission of Texas the Oregon Treaty and the Treaty with Mexico following the war in 1848 These three pieces of territory totaled an addition of more than a million square miles to the nation In 1850 the United States contained 31 states and 4 organized territories Minnesota New Mexico Oregon Utah Significance The 1850 United States census can be seen as a historical document that gives insight into the state of the nation s economy in 1850 It is much more detailed and provides more information than the 1840 census This census was conducted during a very important period of growth and innovation in the United States the Industrial Revolution The statistics in this census provide data on the rate of growth that was taking place in 1850 which resulted in the emergence of the United States as an economic world power Many of the statistics were compared to those of Great Britain and other world powers This shows where the United States stood economically relative to the rest of the world Data availability EditMicrodata from the 1850 population census are freely available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series Aggregate data for small areas together with compatible cartographic boundary files can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System State rankings EditRank State Population01 New York 3 097 39402 Pennsylvania 2 311 78603 Ohio 1 980 32904 Virginia 5 1 421 66105 Tennessee 1 002 71706 Massachusetts 994 51407 Indiana 988 41608 Kentucky 982 40509 Georgia 906 18510 North Carolina 869 03911 Illinois 851 47012 Alabama 771 62313 Missouri 682 04414 South Carolina 668 50715 Mississippi 606 52616 Maine 583 16917 Maryland 583 03418 Louisiana 517 76219 New Jersey 489 55520 Michigan 397 65421 Connecticut 370 79222 New Hampshire 317 97623 Vermont 314 12024 Wisconsin 305 391X West Virginia 6 302 31325 Texas 212 59226 Arkansas 209 89727 Iowa 192 21428 Rhode Island 147 54529 California 92 59730 Delaware 91 53231 Florida 87 445X New Mexico 61 547X District of Columbia 7 51 687X Oregon 12 093X Utah 11 380X Minnesota 6 077X Washington 1 201City rankings EditRank City State Population 8 Region 2016 9 01 New York New York 515 547 Northeast02 Baltimore Maryland 169 054 South03 Boston Massachusetts 136 881 Northeast04 Philadelphia Pennsylvania 121 376 Northeast05 New Orleans Louisiana 116 375 South06 Cincinnati Ohio 115 435 Midwest07 Brooklyn New York 96 838 Northeast08 St Louis Missouri 77 860 Midwest09 Spring Garden Pennsylvania 58 894 Northeast10 Albany New York 50 763 Northeast11 Northern Liberties Pennsylvania 47 223 Northeast12 Kensington Pennsylvania 46 774 Northeast13 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 46 601 Northeast14 Louisville Kentucky 43 194 South15 Charleston South Carolina 42 985 South16 Buffalo New York 42 261 Northeast17 Providence Rhode Island 41 513 Northeast18 Washington District of Columbia 40 001 South19 Newark New Jersey 38 894 Northeast20 Southwark Pennsylvania 38 799 Northeast21 Rochester New York 36 403 Northeast22 Lowell Massachusetts 33 383 Northeast23 Williamsburgh New York 30 780 Northeast24 Chicago Illinois 29 963 Midwest25 Troy New York 28 785 Northeast26 Richmond Virginia 27 570 South27 Moyamensing Pennsylvania 26 979 Northeast28 Syracuse New York 22 271 Northeast29 Allegheny Pennsylvania 21 262 Northeast30 Detroit Michigan 21 019 Midwest31 Portland Maine 20 815 Northeast32 Mobile Alabama 20 515 South33 New Haven Connecticut 20 345 Northeast34 Salem Massachusetts 20 264 Northeast35 Milwaukee Wisconsin 20 061 Midwest36 Roxbury Massachusetts 18 364 Northeast37 Columbus Ohio 17 882 Midwest38 Utica New York 17 565 Northeast39 Charlestown Massachusetts 17 216 Northeast40 Worcester Massachusetts 17 049 Northeast41 Cleveland Ohio 17 034 Midwest42 New Bedford Massachusetts 16 443 Northeast43 Reading Pennsylvania 15 743 Northeast44 Savannah Georgia 15 312 South45 Cambridge Massachusetts 15 215 Northeast46 Bangor Maine 14 432 Northeast47 Norfolk Virginia 14 326 South48 Lynn Massachusetts 14 257 Northeast49 Lafayette Louisiana 14 190 South50 Petersburg Virginia 14 010 South51 Wilmington Delaware 13 979 South52 Manchester New Hampshire 13 932 Northeast53 Hartford Connecticut 13 555 Northeast54 Lancaster Pennsylvania 12 369 Northeast55 Oswego New York 12 205 Northeast56 Springfield Massachusetts 11 766 Northeast57 Fall River Massachusetts 11 524 Northeast58 Poughkeepsie New York 11 511 Northeast59 Smithfield Rhode Island 11 500 Northeast60 Wheeling Virginia 10 11 435 South61 Paterson New Jersey 11 334 Northeast62 Dayton Ohio 10 977 Midwest63 Taunton Massachusetts 10 441 Northeast64 Nashville Tennessee 10 165 South65 Portsmouth New Hampshire 9 738 Northeast66 Newburyport Massachusetts 9 572 Northeast67 Newport Rhode Island 9 563 Northeast68 Auburn New York 9 548 Northeast69 Camden New Jersey 9 479 Northeast70 Augusta Georgia 9 448 South71 Covington Kentucky 9 408 South72 New London Connecticut 8 991 Northeast73 Schenectady New York 8 921 Northeast74 Memphis Tennessee 8 841 South75 Alexandria Virginia 8 734 South76 Montgomery Alabama 8 728 South77 Portsmouth Virginia 8 626 South78 Concord New Hampshire 8 576 Northeast79 Nantucket Massachusetts 8 452 Northeast80 Georgetown District of Columbia 8 366 South81 Chicopee Massachusetts 8 291 Northeast82 Lawrence Massachusetts 8 282 Northeast83 Augusta Maine 8 225 Northeast84 Dover New Hampshire 8 196 Northeast85 New Albany Indiana 8 181 Midwest86 Lexington Kentucky 8 159 South87 Danvers Massachusetts 8 109 Northeast88 Indianapolis Indiana 8 091 Midwest89 Lynchburg Virginia 8 071 South90 Bath Maine 8 020 Northeast91 Madison Indiana 8 012 Midwest92 Dorchester Massachusetts 7 969 Northeast93 Zanesville Ohio 7 929 Midwest94 Harrisburg Pennsylvania 7 834 Northeast95 Gloucester Massachusetts 7 786 Northeast96 Warwick Rhode Island 7 740 Northeast97 North Providence Rhode Island 7 680 Northeast98 Burlington Vermont 7 585 Northeast99 West Troy New York 7 564 Northeast100 Pottsville Pennsylvania 7 515 NortheastControversy EditThe Utah Territorial census was taken in 1851 Secretary Broughton Harris refused to certify the census of Utah territory Harris complained that Brigham Young had conducted the census without him claimed several irregularities and consequently withheld funds reserved for the census 11 The controversy contributed to Harris decision to join other Runaway Officials of 1851 and abandon his post in Utah Territory Relationships with the federal government continued to sour and eventually resulted in the Utah War Local government officials feared having an enslaved population might impede the territory s quest for statehood since certain members of Congress were concerned about expansion of slavery into the western territories 12 The 1850 census slave schedule for Utah Territory reported only 26 slaves with a note that all of them were heading to California and did not include any enslaved people remaining in the territory 13 John David Smith estimates that there were 100 blacks in Utah by 1850 with two thirds of them enslaved 14 See also EditJoseph C G Kennedy Supervisor of the 1850 and 1860 censusReferences Edit What day was the census taken each decade U S Census Bureau Retrieved May 16 2019 United States Census 1850 Maryland Washington county Film Viewer Image 127 of 529 familysearch org Retrieved May 16 2019 United States Census 1850 Tennessee Bedford county Film Viewer Image 250 of 389 familysearch org Retrieved May 16 2019 Library Bibliography Bulletin 88 New York State Census Records 1790 1925 New York State Library October 1981 pp 44 p 50 of PDF Includes population in future state of West Virginia Until 1863 the state of West Virginia was part of Virginia the data for each state reflect the present day boundaries The District of Columbia is not a state but was created with the passage of the Residence Act of 1790 Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States 1790 to 1990 U S Census Bureau 1998 Regions and Divisions U S Census Bureau Archived from the original on December 3 2016 Retrieved September 9 2016 Is located in present day West Virginia W Paul Reeve Ardis E Parshall 2010 Mormonism A Historical Encyclopedia p 26 ISBN 978 1 59884 107 7 Nathaniel R Ricks 2007 A Peculiar Place for the Peculiar Institution Slavery and Sovereignty in Early Territorial Utah Ronald G Coleman Blacks in Utah History An Unknown Legacy PDF Randall M Miller John David Smith 1997 Dictionary of Afro American Slavery Greenwood Publishing p 506 ISBN 978 0 275 95799 5 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1850 United States Census Historical US census data Archived July 20 2017 at the Wayback Machine http www2 census gov prod2 decennial documents 1850c 01 pdf Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1850 United States census amp oldid 1103162700, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
