1860 US Census from the state of New York

By the time the 1860 census returns were ready for tabulation, the nation was sinking into the American Civil War. As a result, Census Superintendent Joseph C. G. Kennedy and his staff produced only an abbreviated set of reports, which included no graphic or cartographic representations. This includes a new round of statistics did allow the Census staff to produce a cartographic display, including preparing maps of Southern states for Union field commanders. These maps displayed militarily vital topics, including white population, slave population, predominant agricultural products (by county), and rail and post-road transportation routes.

Census questions

The 1860 census collected the following information^[1]:

• name
• address
• age
• sex
• color (white, black or mulatto) for each person
• freeman or slave (if in a Southern state)
• whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane or idiotic
• value of real estate and of personal estate owned (required of all free persons)
• profession, occupation or trade of each male and female over 15 years of age
• place (state, territory or country) of birth
• whether married within the year
• whether attended school within the year
• whether unable to read and write (for persons over 20)
• whether a pauper or convict

Full documentation for the 1860 population census, including census forms and enumerator instructions, is available from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series.

Data availability

Microdata from the 1860 population census are freely available through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Aggregate data for small areas, together with compatible cartographic boundary files, can be downloaded from the National Historical Geographic Information System.

Common Occupations

Data reveals that Farmers (owners and tenants) made up nearly 10% of utilized occupations. Also, farm laborers (wage workers) represent the next highest percent with 3.2%, followed by general laborers at 3.0%.^[2] Although more localized data set of Essex, MA suggests that there were other common occupations. For women a large section of the labor force was devoted to shoe-binding, while for men the common occupations were farming and shoe-making.^[3] This heavy demand of shoe related labor implies a high demand for rigorous physical labor, as supported by the data of very large amounts of farm related work as compared to most other labor options. IPUMS' data also notes that the percent of population that had been enrolled in school or marked as "Student" was at the level of 0.2%. This demonstrates a small rate of growth if any of the Human Capital of the time. Human Capital can be defined as the skill set a worker has to apply to the labor force, which can increase total output through increased efficiency.

With the census of 1860, as opposed to the next decades, much of Southern wealth was held as slaves because they were considered legally property. Analogous to today where wealth is housed in stocks, factories, and other forms of property, the South received a huge loss of total wealth and assets when the American Civil War ended.

See also

• Joseph C. G. Kennedy
• Human Capital
• American Civil War
• Cotton Gin

Notes

1. ↑
2. ↑
3. ↑

External links

• Full text of Census report (in pdf format)
• U.S. Federal Cens us Mortality Schedules 1850-1880
• Adam Goodheart: "The Census of Doom", NY Times

ar: 1860 fr:Recensement des tats-Unis de 1860 ro:Recens m ntul Statelor Unite ale Americii din 1860 ru: (1860)