Sociology 213: Social Demography
Reading Notes #2
[Note: Answer only the questions in part B, part A are my notes on the reading].
Read pages 1-100 of The American Census: A Social History
Read selections from Getting Started With Stata (no questions, but we will use Stata in lab…this reading will be on the web page Wednesday morning).
A. Notes:
[You do not have to provide answers for this section. These are provided to help you focus your reading on the important parts of the text.]
Intro & Ch1:
Controversy and debates about why we conduct the census have been a constant feature p.4
The systematic collection of quantitative information on populations is a recent phenomenon (p.5)
The constitution and the census p.9
U.S. marshals conduct the early censuses (p. 13). What was the enumeration procedure?
1790 census: what information was collected?
The politics of census numbers: the problem of decimal points for deciding representation in congress (p. 15-16). Divisor of 33,000 pop per seat.
Jefferson and Dwight ask for more information on occupations p.10
1810 census p.19
Manufacturing census
P. 20 # of questions versus accuracy, doubt in the accuracy of the results, importance of the census in developing a quantitative way of thinking about society.
Adam Sybert 1818 publishes 800 page volume of census findings p.21
1820 census collects crude occupational information p. 23
p. 25 apportionment of representatives is biased against small states. Why?
1840 congress requests more information
p. 28 flowering of interest in social statistics
American statistical association founding in 1839
Question about insanity…higher rate found among the free black population…p.29
p.33 1850s major changes
Calhoun is against the census asking so many questions—issue of state’s rights
Joseph Kennedy p.36
Individual level data collected for the first time, 6 schedules p.37
Tension about asking questions about slaves p.40; Seward vs. Butler
p.41 question on mixed blood is deleted
expansion of census staff p. 40-41
1850 census modeled after Shattuck’s 1845 Boston census
controversy surrounding Kennedy’s management of the 1850 census
James Debow
Hinton Helper’ Impending Crisis of the South p. 53: makes use of census data, what is the significance?
How did pro-slavery advocates respond to Helper? P.54
Debate cited in James McPherson’s Ordeal by Fire
p. 57: census helps give estimate of the costs of emancipation…1.2b versus federal budget of 65m
p. 62 Cohen, A Calculated People: The Spread of Numeracy
in Early America
Use of the census during the Civil War p.63
Sherman’s march to the sea uses census data.
Map of distribution of the slave population 1860, p. 70
p. 69 Kennedy’s expectation that the emancipation of slaves would lead to “racial” extinction…how was this racist thinking reflected in the questions and analysis of census data.
p. 72 How was emancipation going to increase the political representation of southern states? +16 seats
importance of black vote p. 73
p. 75 section 2 of the 14th amendment and voting rights.
James Garfield p. 77-79
Francis Amasa Walker p. 78
1870 undercount…how much?
Why did the census stop collecting information on suffrage restriction and civil rights…how was this a missed opportunity?
1879 congress gives the census office control over the field admin. of the census.
p. 83 1901ŕpermanent office
machine tabulation
census 1900 300 supervisors and 53,000 enumerators
black undercount p. 89, 1879 census
patronage demands p. 100
B. Reading Questions:
[Directions: Outline or sketch out an answer to each of these reading questions. You can answer the question as if you were taking notes for yourself; you do not have to write a complete answer or use complete sentences. Just provide enough to demonstrate that you have done the reading and thought about each of the questions. Class begins with the expectation that you are prepared to discuss each question. Turn in a photocopy of your reading questions at the start of class].
1. What does the constitution require regarding a census? How are house seats apportioned? As a result, why is the census always implicated in politics?
2. What did Hinton Helper’s book The Impending Crisis argue? How did he use census data?
3. Why was it controversial to ask demographic questions about the slave population in 1850?
4. How was emancipation going to affect the balance of political power in the U.S. and how did this affect the census and the concerns of northerners over the political rights of freed slaves? Why was section 2 of the 14th amendment never really enforced?
5. After reading this section, what is your view of the accuracy of 19th century censuses in the U.S?