Important Facts
Sample Resources & Subject Headings
- List of free Black Heads of Families in the First Census of the United States, 1790
- Free Negro Owners of Slaves in the United States in 1830, Together with Absentee Ownership of Slaves in the United States in 1830
- Free Negro heads of families in the United States in 1830, together with a brief treatment of the free Negro
Subject Headings
1790-1840
- Only listed the names of free heads of household (both White and Black).
- Columns indicated the number of individuals living in the household (enslaved and free).
- Enslaved individuals were tallied in the U.S. census as not one, but three fifths of a person.
1790
- First Federal Census
- Goal of getting a head count of the population
- This census has the least personally identifying information compared to other federal censuses.
1820
- Included age ranges for all African Americans, enslaved and free.
1840
- Collected names of those (Black and White) who collected military pensions from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
1850-60
- Includes the names of all free members of the household, including children.
- Inhabitants were asked if they could read and write.
- Includes ownership of real estate.
- Includes non-population schedule.