1840 United States census

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.{{Citation

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. 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. The returns were not revised.

Census questions

The 1840 census asked these questions:

• 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

City rankings

References

References

1. Hephzibah V. Strmic-Paul, Brandon A. Jackson, and Steve Garner, “Race Counts: Racial and Ethnic Data on the U.S. Census and the Implications for Tracking Inequality,” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 4, no. 1 (2018): 1–13.
2. Edward Jarvis. (1844). "Insanity Among the Coloured Population of the Free States". T.K. & P.G. Collins, Printers.
3. (1844). "Memorial of the American Statistical Association Praying the Adoption of Measures for the Correction of Errors in the Returns of the Sixth Census".
4. John Quincy Adams. (1877). "Memoirs of John Quincy Adams: comprising portions of his diary from 1795 to 1848". J. B. Lippincott & Co..
5. Litwack (1958), 267
6. Litwack (1958), 268
7. (1981). "Library Bibliography Bulletin 88, New York State Census Records, 1790-1925". [[New York State Library]].
8. Includes population in the future state of West Virginia
9. Between 1790 and 1863, the state of West Virginia was part of Virginia; the data for this state reflects the present-day boundary.
10. Includes portion of what is now [[Minnesota]] lying west of the [[Mississippi River]], as well as portions of what is now [[North Dakota]] and [[South Dakota]] lying east of the Missouri River
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 [[District of Columbia retrocession. returned by Congress]] in 1846.
12. Includes portion of what is now [[Minnesota]] lying east of the [[Mississippi River]]
13. (1998). "Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990". U.S. Census Bureau.
14. "Regions and Divisions". U.S. Census Bureau.
15. Is in present day West Virginia