16 Progress of Population and Wealth 



assumed error was imputed, I know not on what evidence, to the 

 popular notion that the people were thus counted for the purpose 

 of being taxed, and that not a few had, on this account, understated 

 to the deputy marshals the number of persons in their families.* 

 But the general conformity of this census with those subsequently 

 taken, in all points where the discrepancy cannot be satisfactorily 

 explained, shows that the errors could not have been considerable. 



The census showed that the population of this country had been 

 overrated at the revolution, for, supposing the rate of increase to 

 have been the same before the census as after it, the people of the 

 thirteen colonies, at the time of the stamp act, fell considerably 

 short of two millions, and at the declaration of independence, they 

 did not reach to two and a half millions. 



The items of the first census were unfortunately too few to furnish 

 much materials for comparison. The most important facts it 

 discloses are the following : 



Per cent. 



Of the whole population, the whites were 3,172,464 = 80.73 

 The free coloured, 59,466 = 1.51 



The slaves, 697,897 = 17.76 



3,929,827 100. 

 Consequently, the whole free population, 



white and coloured, were 82.24 



And the whole slave population, .... 17.76 



The number of white males to that of the females was as 103.8 

 to 100 ; or, for every 10,000 males there were 9,636 females. 



It deserves to be remarked that the age of sixteen, which was 

 adopted by Congress to divide the male population into two parts, 

 with a view probably to ascertain the number of men capable of 

 bearing arms, made an almost equal division between them. Thus, 

 of the whole male white population, the part over sixteen is 50.3 

 per cent, and the part under sixteen 49.7. The age of twenty was 

 thus found to divide the male population of England into two equal 

 parts, by the census taken in that country in 1821. 



It will be perceived that, at this period, every State in the Union, 



* It is certain that this supposed source of error was credited by General Washington, 

 usually so cautious, and almost unerring in his judgments, and that on the faith of it, he 

 expected that the second census would show a much larger amount of population than 

 proved to be the fact. 



