1860 Slave Data Analysis

The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) in Ann Arbor, Michigan 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 1860 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 1860 data (Also do the 1790 assignment.)
For all the State Names shown get data on five variables [Hold down the Ctrl key to select more than one variable]:

total population
total free population
under Ethnicity/Race/Place of Birth, scroll down to aggregate free colored persons (total)
aggregate slaves (total)
total slaveholders

Answer the following questions for 1860.
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 highest ratio of slaves to its population in 1860?
Just for the fun of it, map this data. Hit the Ctrl key AND click on the Map it link at the same time.

What were the ratios of slaves to population for Texas and Missouri in 1860?

Which two states had the highest number of slaves per slaveholder in 1860?

What was the number of slaves per slaveholder in Nebraska in 1860?

Which state had the highest ratio of total number of slaves to the total free population in 1860?

What was the number of slaves to free persons in Texas in 1860?

Which state had the highest ratio of free colored persons to its total population in 1860?

After you have typed the answer in each box,

Now compare these findings with the 1790 assignment.

Created by Ingolf Vogeler on 22 December 1996; last revised on 16 May 2007.