1870 United States census

June 1, 1870 (1870-06-01)

General information
CountryUnited States
AuthorityCensus Office
Results
Total population38,925,598 (Increase 22.6%)
Most populous stateNew York
4,382,759
Least populous stateNevada
42,941

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' 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

Population results of the 1870 census
True population Total United States 38,925,598
States only 38,205,598
Territories 720,000
Constitutional/resident population* Total United States 38,558,371
States only** 38,115,641
Territories 442,730
White population Total United States 33,589,377
States only 33,203,128
Territories 386,249
Black population Total United States 4,880,009
States only 4,835,106
Territories 44,903
Indian (Native American) population (on reservations) Total United States 357,981
States only 89,957
Territories 268,024
Indian (Native American) population (not on reservations) Total United States 25,731
States only 21,228
Territories 4,503
Chinese population Total United States 63,199
States only 56,124
Territories 7,075
Japanese population Total United States 55
States only 55
Territories 0

[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

RankState/TerritoryPopulation
01New York4,382,759
02Pennsylvania3,521,951
03Ohio2,665,260
04Illinois2,539,891
05Missouri1,721,295
06Indiana1,680,637
07Massachusetts1,457,351
08Kentucky1,321,011
09Tennessee1,258,520
10Virginia1,225,163
11Iowa1,194,020
12Georgia1,184,109
13Michigan1,184,059
14North Carolina1,071,361
15Wisconsin1,054,670
16Alabama996,992
17New Jersey906,096
18Mississippi827,922
19Texas818,579
20Maryland780,894
21Louisiana726,915
22South Carolina705,606
23Maine626,915
24California560,247
25Connecticut537,454
26Arkansas484,471
27West Virginia442,014
28Minnesota439,706
29Kansas364,399
30Vermont330,551
31New Hampshire318,300
32Rhode Island217,353
33Florida187,748
XDistrict of Columbia [note 1]131,700
34Delaware125,015
35Nebraska122,993
XNew Mexico91,874
36Oregon90,923
XUtah86,336
37Nevada42,941[note 2]
XColorado39,864
XWashington23,955
XMontana20,595
XIdaho14,999
XSouth Dakota11,776
XArizona9,658
XWyoming9,118
XNorth Dakota2,405

Notes

  1. The District of Columbia is not a state but was created with the passage of the Residence Act of 1790.
  2. Includes a population of 450 for Rio Virgin County, which was located in Nevada but enumerated as part of Utah in the 1870 census.

City rankings

RankCityStatePopulation[6]Region (2016)[7]
01New YorkNew York942,292Northeast
02PhiladelphiaPennsylvania674,022Northeast
03BrooklynNew York396,099Northeast
04St. LouisMissouri310,864Midwest
05ChicagoIllinois298,977Midwest
06BaltimoreMaryland267,354South
07BostonMassachusetts250,526Northeast
08CincinnatiOhio216,239Midwest
09New OrleansLouisiana191,418South
10San FranciscoCalifornia149,473West
11BuffaloNew York117,714Northeast
12WashingtonDistrict of Columbia109,199South
13NewarkNew Jersey105,059Northeast
14LouisvilleKentucky100,753South
15ClevelandOhio92,829Midwest
16PittsburghPennsylvania86,076Northeast
17Jersey CityNew Jersey82,546Northeast
18DetroitMichigan79,577Midwest
19MilwaukeeWisconsin71,440Midwest
20AlbanyNew York69,422Northeast
21ProvidenceRhode Island68,904Northeast
22RochesterNew York62,386Northeast
23AlleghenyPennsylvania53,180Northeast
24RichmondVirginia51,038South
25New HavenConnecticut50,840Northeast
26CharlestonSouth Carolina48,956South
27IndianapolisIndiana48,244Midwest
28TroyNew York46,465Northeast
29SyracuseNew York43,051Northeast
30WorcesterMassachusetts41,105Northeast
31LowellMassachusetts40,928Northeast
32MemphisTennessee40,226South
33CambridgeMassachusetts39,634Northeast
34HartfordConnecticut37,180Northeast
35ScrantonPennsylvania35,092Northeast
36ReadingPennsylvania33,930Northeast
37PatersonNew Jersey33,579Northeast
38Kansas CityMissouri32,260Midwest
39MobileAlabama32,034South
40ToledoOhio31,584Midwest
41PortlandMaine31,413Northeast
42ColumbusOhio31,274Midwest
43WilmingtonDelaware30,841South
44DaytonOhio30,473Midwest
45LawrenceMassachusetts28,921Northeast
46UticaNew York28,804Northeast
47CharlestownMassachusetts28,323Northeast
48SavannahGeorgia28,235South
49LynnMassachusetts28,233Northeast
50Fall RiverMassachusetts26,766Northeast
51SpringfieldMassachusetts26,703Northeast
52NashvilleTennessee25,865South
53CovingtonKentucky24,505South
54SalemMassachusetts24,117Northeast
55QuincyIllinois24,052Midwest
56ManchesterNew Hampshire23,536Northeast
57HarrisburgPennsylvania23,104Northeast
58TrentonNew Jersey22,874Northeast
59PeoriaIllinois22,849Midwest
60EvansvilleIndiana21,830Midwest
61AtlantaGeorgia21,789South
62New BedfordMassachusetts21,320Northeast
63OswegoNew York20,910Northeast
64ElizabethNew Jersey20,832Northeast
65North ProvidenceRhode Island20,495Northeast
66HobokenNew Jersey20,297Northeast
67LancasterPennsylvania20,233Northeast
68PoughkeepsieNew York20,080Northeast
69CamdenNew Jersey20,045Northeast
70DavenportIowa20,038Midwest
71Saint PaulMinnesota20,030Midwest
72EriePennsylvania19,646Northeast
73St. JosephMissouri19,565Midwest
74WheelingWest Virginia19,280South
75NorfolkVirginia19,229South
76BridgeportConnecticut18,969Northeast
77PetersburgVirginia18,950South
78TauntonMassachusetts18,629Northeast
79ChelseaMassachusetts18,547Northeast
80DubuqueIowa18,434Midwest
81BangorMaine18,289Northeast
82LeavenworthKansas17,873Midwest
83Fort WayneIndiana17,718Midwest
84SpringfieldIllinois17,364Midwest
85AuburnNew York17,225Northeast
86NewburghNew York17,014Northeast
87NorwichConnecticut16,653Northeast
88Grand RapidsMichigan16,507Midwest
89SacramentoCalifornia16,283West
90Terre HauteIndiana16,103Midwest
91OmahaNebraska16,083Midwest
92WilliamsportPennsylvania16,030Northeast
93ElmiraNew York15,863Northeast
94New AlbanyIndiana15,396Midwest
95AugustaGeorgia15,389South
95GloucesterMassachusetts15,389Northeast
97CohoesNew York15,357Northeast
98NewportKentucky15,087South
99New BrunswickNew Jersey15,058Northeast
100BurlingtonIowa14,930Midwest

References

  1. Census History Staff. "1870 Fast Facts – History". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 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. 1 2 Bureau, US Census. "1870 Census: A Compendium of the Ninth Census (June 1, 1870)". www.census.gov. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  4. "1870 Federal Census Schedule 1 Form" (PDF). National Archives.
  5. "1870 Enumerator Instructions (to Assistant Marshals)". IPUMS USA. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  6. Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, U.S. Census Bureau, 1998
  7. "Regions and Divisions". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.

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