1790 Slave Data Analysis

The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) in Ann Arbor, Michigan initially assembled the federal census data that describe the people and economy of the United States between 1790 and 1970 by most states and their counties.

Access to these data.

Procedure for selecting data from the web site:

Select the 1790 census year.
Select the variables (see below) -- hold down the Ctrl key if you want to select more than one variable per box-- from the menu boxes and .
Scroll to the bottom to see the Create Proportions menu.
Select a variable in the numerator (usually the smaller number, e.g., number of slaves) and a variable in the denominator (usually the larger number, e.g., total population).
Now click at the bottom of this page.
Use the resulting table to answer the questions.

Assignment using the 1790 data
For all the State Names shown get data on four variables [Hold down the Ctrl key to select more than one variable]:

slaves (total)
free colored slaveholding families (total)
white nonslaveholding families (total)
free colored nonslaveholding families (totat)

Answer the following questions for 1790:
To go between the graphs you generated and the questions on this page, it is easiest to open another version of Web software you are using to this page and then go between the two web pages; or use the arrow at the top-left hand corner of this web page.

Type your username only (assigned to you by UWEC; don't use your ID#) into this box
(or I will not know that you have completed this form)
Spell out the correct name of all states (no abbreviations);
use a comma and a space, not "and," in a list of states.
Don't use %; just type .43 for 43 percent.
Which state had the largest number of white nonslaveholding families in 1790?

Which southern state had the largest number of white nonslaveholding families in 1790?
The map of slaves in the United States identifies "southern" states by 30 percent or more slave population.
Also, see your textbook -- Zelinsky's map for "The South" on pp. 118-119.

Identify the northern state with the largest number of free colored nonslaveholding families in 1790.

Identify the three northern states with the largest number of free colored slaveholding families in 1790.

Which northern state had the largest number of slaves in 1790?
Just for the fun of it, map this data. Hit the Ctrl key AND click on the Map it link at the same time.

Which southern state had the largest number of slaves in 1790?

Which southern state had the smallest number of slaves in 1790?

After you have typed the answer in each box,

Go to the 1860 assignment.

Created by Ingolf Vogeler on 22 December 1996; last revised on 29 October 2008.