1840 United States census

June 1, 1840 (1840-06-01)

Seal of the United States Marshals Service, which administered the census
General information
CountryUnited States
AuthorityOffice of the United States Marshal
Results
Total population17,069,453 (Increase 32.7%)
Most populous stateNew York
2,428,921
Least populous stateDelaware
78,085

The 1840 United States census was the sixth census of the United States. Conducted by U.S. marshals on June 1, 1840, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 17,069,453 – an increase of 32.7 percent over the 12,866,020 persons enumerated during the 1830 census. The total population included 2,487,355 slaves. In 1840, the center of population was about 260 miles (418 km) west of Washington, near Weston, Virginia (now in West Virginia).

This was the first census in which:

  • A state recorded a population of over two million (New York)
  • A city recorded a population of over 300,000 (New York)
  • Multiple cities recorded populations of over 100,000 (New York, Baltimore, and New Orleans)

It was also the last census conducted by U.S. marshals, as starting in 1850 a temporary office would be set up for each census under the purview of the Department of the Interior.

Controversy over statistics for mental illness among Northern blacks

The 1840 census was the first that attempted to count Americans who were "insane" or "idiotic". Published results of the census indicated that alarming numbers of black persons living in non-slaveholding States were mentally ill, in striking contrast to the corresponding figures for slaveholding States.

Pro-slavery advocates trumpeted the results as evidence of the beneficial effects of slavery, and the probable consequences of emancipation.[1] Anti-slavery advocates contended, on the contrary, that the published returns were riddled with errors, as detailed in an 1844 report by Edward Jarvis of Massachusetts in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, later published separately as a pamphlet,[1][2] and in a memorial from the American Statistical Association to Congress, praying that measures be taken to correct the errors.[3]

The memorial was submitted to the House of Representatives by John Quincy Adams, who contended that it demonstrated "a multitude of gross and important errors" in the published returns.[4] In response to the House's request for an inquiry, Secretary of State John C. Calhoun reported that a careful examination of the statistics by the supervisor of the census had fully sustained their correctness.[5][6] The returns were not revised.[7]

Census questions

The 1840 census asked these questions:[8]

  • Name of head of family
  • Address
  • Number of free white males and females
    • in five-year age groups to age 20
    • in 10-year age groups from 20 to 100
    • 100 years and older
  • number of slaves and free colored persons in six age groups
  • number of deaf and dumb, by race
  • number of blind, by race
  • number of insane and idiotic in public or private charge, by race
  • number of persons in each family employed in seven classes of occupation
  • number of schools and number of scholars
  • number of white persons over 20 who could not read and write
  • number of pensioners for Revolutionary or military service

Data availability

No microdata from the 1840 population census are available, but aggregate data for small areas, together with compatible cartographic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System. A compendium of data from the sixth census, organized by States, counties, and principal towns is available on the web site of the Census Bureau.

State rankings

RankStatePopulation
1New York2,428,921
2Pennsylvania1,724,033
3Ohio1,519,467
4Virginia [9]1,239,792
5Tennessee829,210
6Kentucky779,828
7North Carolina753,419
8Massachusetts737,699
9Georgia691,392
10Indiana685,866
11South Carolina594,398
12Alabama590,756
13Maine501,793
14Illinois476,183
15Maryland470,019
16Missouri383,702
17Mississippi375,651
18New Jersey373,306
19Louisiana352,411
20Connecticut309,978
21Vermont291,948
22New Hampshire284,574
XWest Virginia [10]224,537
23Michigan212,267
24Rhode Island108,830
25Arkansas97,574
26Delaware78,085
XFlorida54,477
XIowa43,112
XDistrict of Columbia [11]33,745
XWisconsin30,945

City rankings

RankCityStatePopulation[12]Region (2016)[13]
01New YorkNew York312,710Northeast
02BaltimoreMaryland102,313South
03New OrleansLouisiana102,193South
04PhiladelphiaPennsylvania93,665Northeast
05BostonMassachusetts93,383Northeast
06CincinnatiOhio46,338Midwest
07BrooklynNew York36,233Northeast
08Northern LibertiesPennsylvania34,474Northeast
09AlbanyNew York33,721Northeast
10CharlestonSouth Carolina29,261South
11Spring GardenPennsylvania27,849Northeast
12SouthwarkPennsylvania27,548Northeast
13WashingtonDistrict of Columbia23,364South
14ProvidenceRhode Island23,171Northeast
15KensingtonPennsylvania22,314Northeast
16LouisvilleKentucky21,210South
17PittsburghPennsylvania21,115Northeast
18LowellMassachusetts20,796Northeast
19RochesterNew York20,191Northeast
20RichmondVirginia20,153South
21TroyNew York19,334Northeast
22BuffaloNew York18,213Northeast
23NewarkNew Jersey17,290Northeast
24St. LouisMissouri16,469Midwest
25PortlandMaine15,218Northeast
26SalemMassachusetts15,082Northeast
27MoyamensingPennsylvania14,573Northeast
28New HavenConnecticut12,960Northeast
29UticaNew York12,782Northeast
30MobileAlabama12,672South
31New BedfordMassachusetts12,087Northeast
32CharlestownMassachusetts11,484Northeast
33SavannahGeorgia11,214South
34PetersburgVirginia11,136South
35SpringfieldMassachusetts10,985Northeast
36NorfolkVirginia10,920South
37AlleghenyPennsylvania10,089Northeast
38SmithfieldRhode Island9,534Northeast
39HartfordConnecticut9,468Northeast
40LynnMassachusetts9,367Northeast
41DetroitMichigan9,102Midwest
42RoxburyMassachusetts9,089Northeast
43NantucketMassachusetts9,012Northeast
44BangorMaine8,627Northeast
45AlexandriaDistrict of Columbia8,459South
46LancasterPennsylvania8,417Northeast
47ReadingPennsylvania8,410Northeast
48CambridgeMassachusetts8,409Northeast
49WilmingtonDelaware8,367South
50NewportRhode Island8,333Northeast
51PortsmouthNew Hampshire7,887Northeast
52WheelingVirginia[14]7,885South
53TauntonMassachusetts7,645Northeast
54PatersonNew Jersey7,596Northeast
55WorcesterMassachusetts7,497Northeast
56GeorgetownDistrict of Columbia7,312South
57NewburyportMassachusetts7,161Northeast
58LexingtonKentucky6,997South
59NashvilleTennessee6,929South
60SchenectadyNew York6,784Northeast
61Fall RiverMassachusetts6,738Northeast
62WarwickRhode Island6,726Northeast
63PortsmouthVirginia6,477South
64DoverNew Hampshire6,458Northeast
65AugustaGeorgia6,403South
66LynchburgVirginia6,395South
67GloucesterMassachusetts6,350Northeast
68ClevelandOhio6,071Midwest
69DaytonOhio6,067Midwest
70MiddletownNew Jersey6,063Northeast
71NashuaNew Hampshire6,054Northeast
72ColumbusOhio6,048Midwest
73HarrisburgPennsylvania5,980Northeast
74HudsonNew York5,672Northeast
75AuburnNew York5,626Northeast
76MarbleheadMassachusetts5,575Northeast
77New LondonConnecticut5,519Northeast
78WilmingtonNorth Carolina5,335South
79AugustaMaine5,314Northeast
80PlymouthMassachusetts5,281Northeast
81CumberlandRhode Island5,225Northeast
82AndoverMassachusetts5,207Northeast
83FrederickMaryland5,182South
84BathMaine5,141Northeast
85MiddleboroughMassachusetts5,085Northeast
86EveshamNew Jersey5,060Northeast
87GardinerMaine5,042Northeast
88DanversMassachusetts5,020Northeast
89ConcordNew Hampshire4,897Northeast
90DorchesterMassachusetts4,875Northeast
91EastonPennsylvania4,865Northeast
92WoodbridgeNew Jersey4,821Northeast
93YorkPennsylvania4,779Northeast
94ZanesvilleOhio4,766Midwest
95BeverlyMassachusetts4,689Northeast
96DanburyConnecticut4,504Northeast
97ChicagoIllinois4,470Midwest
98CarlislePennsylvania4,351Northeast
99PottsvillePennsylvania4,345Northeast
100ColumbiaSouth Carolina4,340South

References

  1. 1 2 Leon F. Litwack (1958), "The Federal Government and the Free Negro, 1790–1860", Journal of Negro History, 43 (4): 261–78, 263–68, doi:10.2307/2716144, JSTOR 2716144, S2CID 150261737, and sources there cited.
  2. Edward Jarvis (1844). Insanity Among the Coloured Population of the Free States. Philadelphia: T.K. & P.G. Collins, Printers. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  3. Edward Jarvis; William Brigham; J. Wingate Thornton (1844). Memorial of the American Statistical Association Praying the Adoption of Measures for the Correction of Errors in the Returns of the Sixth Census. Public Documents Printed by Order of the Senate of the United States, Second Session of the Twenty-Eighth Congress. Vol. I. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  4. John Quincy Adams (1877). Charles Francis Adams (ed.). Memoirs of John Quincy Adams: comprising portions of his diary from 1795 to 1848. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. pp. 27–28, 61, 119–20. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  5. Litwack (1958), 267
  6. John Caldwell Calhoun; South Carolina General Assembly (1859). Richard K. Crallé (ed.). The Works of John C. Calhoun: Reports and Public Letters. Vol. V. New York: D. Appleton and Company. p. 458. Retrieved May 31, 2013. Calhoun engaged William A. Weaver, the superintendent of the 1840 census, to review the figures and check them against related data from the 1830 census. Ibid. Weaver reported that he had examined "each specification of error" and concluded that the memorialists had themselves erred in their claims. While there doubtless had been minor errors, he said, there had been no glaring methodological mistakes as charged. See William Edwin Hemphill, ed., The Papers of John C. Calhoun: 1845, Columbia: Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1993, vol. 21, p. 156.
  7. Litwack (1958), 268
  8. "Library Bibliography Bulletin 88, New York State Census Records, 1790-1925". New York State Library. 1981. Several pages on U.S. federal web sites incorrectly assert that the 1840 census questionnaire closely followed that from the 1830 census, which did not include questions concerning mental illness.
  9. Includes population in the future state of West Virginia
  10. Between 1790 and 1860, the state of West Virginia was part of Virginia; the data for this state reflects the present-day boundary.
  11. The District of Columbia is not a state but was created with the passage of the Residence Act of 1790. The territory that formed that federal capital was originally donated by both Maryland and Virginia; however, the Virginia portion was returned by Congress in 1846.
  12. Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990, U.S. Census Bureau, 1998
  13. "Regions and Divisions". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  14. Is in present day West Virginia
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