PREFACE. 



The writer of the following pages being desirous of further gra- 

 tifying the curiosity he had always felt on the subject of the census 

 of the United States, was induced to make a thorough analysis of it 

 from 1790 to 1840. The result of his inquiries decided him on giving 

 them to the public. They have conducted him to important in- 

 ferences on the subjects of the probabilities of life, the proportion 

 between the sexes, emigration, the diversities between the two 

 races which compose our population, the progress of Slavery, 

 the progress of productive industry ; and on one point they have dis- 

 closed an interesting fact which seems never to have been suspect- 

 ed. They conclusively show that, as the number of children bear 

 a less and less proportion to the women, in every State of the 

 Union, the preventive checks to redundant numbers have already 

 begun to operate here, although there is no increased difficulty in ob- 

 taining the means of subsistence. From this fact we are able to as- 

 certain the law of our natural increase, and thus, in the estimates of 

 our future progress, correct some prevalent errors. 



To the Tables and Estimates the author has subjoined comments 



to aid those who were not familiar with statistical inquiries ; for 



he wished the general reader to see and understand on what solid 



basis rest the hopes of the Anglo-Saxon race on this continent. And 



though these explanations were unnecessary to the scientific statist, 



they may often suggest to him valuable hints and reflections. 



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