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The 1870 census commenced on June 1, 1870, and was taken under
the provisions of the census act of May 23, 1850.1
The Secretary of Interior appointed General Francis A. Walker Superintendent
of the Ninth Census on February 7, 1870.2 Although the
1870 Census was under the 1850 act, a new bill approved on May 6, 1870, made
the following changes:
- The marshals were to submit the returns from “schedule
1” (free inhabitants) to the Census Office by September 10, 1870. All
other schedules were to be submitted by October 1, 1870.
- The1850 law authorizing penalties for refusing to reply
to the inquiries was expanded to apply to all inquiries made by enumerators.
Redesigned schedules used for 1870 and the omission of a “slave”
schedule made possible several additional inquiries as follows:
- Schedule No.1 – General Population Schedule.
This schedule collected data from the entire population of the United States.
- Schedule No.2 - Mortality. This schedule
collected data on persons who died during the year. In addition to the 1860
inquiries, inquiries were modified to include Schedule 1’s additions
to collect data on parentage and to differentiate between Chinese and American
Indians. Inquiries concerning “free or slave” status and “number
of days ill” were discontinued.
- Schedule No.3 - Agriculture. The 1860 inquiries
were used with additional requests for (1) acreage of woodland, (2) production
of Spring and Winter wheat, (3) livestock sold for slaughter, (4) total tons
of hemp produced, (5) total wages paid, (6) gallons of milk sold, (7) value
of forest products, and (8) estimated value of all farm productions.
- Schedule No. 4 – Products of Industry.
Using the 1860 schedule as a basis, additional information was requested on
(1) motive power and machinery, (2) hands employed by sex and specified age
groups, (3) total annual salaries paid, and (4) time of full-and part-time
operation.
- Schedule No.5 - Social Statistics. The
1860 schedule was modified to incorporate the questions on (1) bonded and
other debt of counties, cities, towns, and townships, parishes, and boroughs,
(2) pauperism and crime by race (“native black” and “native
white”); (3) number of church organizations and church buildings; (4)
number of teachers and students; (5) kinds of schools, libraries, and taxes,
by type.
The 1870 enumeration was completed on August 23, 1871. The
work of compiling the census data, a portion of which was tallied using a machine
invented by Charles W. Seaton, was completed in 1872.
1Although a Congressional committee
stated that the1860 Census had been “the most complete census that any
Nation has ever had,” it was recognized that the 1850 act was inadequate
to meet the changing conditions in which the 1870 Census would need to be conducted.
A special committee of the U.S. House of Representatives (Second Session, Forty-First
Congress) investigated and reported on the need for a new census act. The committee’s
report was submitted as a bill on January 18, 1870. This bill was passed by
the U.S. House of Representatives, but defeated in the Senate, compelling the
use of the 1850 Census act.
2General Walker was one of several
“experts” participating in the U.S. House of Representatives’
Committee deliberations on the 1870 Census. Prior to being appointed Superintendent
of the Ninth Census, Walker was Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, which then
was an agency within the Treasury Department.
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