1870 United States census

1870 United States census
1870 United States census
	Seal of the Department of the Interior
General information
Country	United States
Authority	Census Office
Results
Total population	38,925,598 ( 22.6%)
Most populous state	New York; 4,382,759
Least populous state	Nevada; 42,941

The 1870 United States census was the ninth United States census. It was conducted by the Census Office from June 1, 1870, to August 23, 1871. The 1870 census was the first census to provide detailed information on the African American population, only five years after the culmination of the Civil War when slaves were granted freedom. The total population was 38,925,598 with a resident population of 38,558,371 individuals, a 22.6% increase from 1860.^[1]

The 1870 census's population estimate was controversial, as many believed it underestimated the true population numbers, especially in New York and Pennsylvania.^[2] This was the first census in which all 100 largest cities recorded populations of over 10,000. This was also the last federal census conducted using the US Marshal Service as enumerators.

^ Census History Staff. "1870 Fast Facts – History". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
^ Munroe, James Phinney (1923) A Life of Francis Amasa Walker, Holt, p. 111 Conditions for the work were therefore so adverse that the new superintendent (Walker), with characteristic frankness, repudiated in many instances the results of the Census, denouncing them as false or misleading and pointing out the plain reasons. p. 113 When the appointments of enumerators were made in 1870 the entire lot was taken from the Republican party, and most of those in the South were negroes. Some of the negroes could not read or write, and the enumeration of the Southern population was done very badly. My judgement was that the census of 1870 erred as to the colored population between 350,000 and 400,000

[1] Census History Staff. "1870 Fast Facts – History". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 28, 2019.

[2] Munroe, James Phinney (1923) A Life of Francis Amasa Walker, Holt, p. 111 Conditions for the work were therefore so adverse that the new superintendent (Walker), with characteristic frankness, repudiated in many instances the results of the Census, denouncing them as false or misleading and pointing out the plain reasons. p. 113 When the appointments of enumerators were made in 1870 the entire lot was taken from the Republican party, and most of those in the South were negroes. Some of the negroes could not read or write, and the enumeration of the Southern population was done very badly. My judgement was that the census of 1870 erred as to the colored population between 350,000 and 400,000

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