The 1840 census represents the last of the federal censuses that focus on the heads of households only. Like all of the censuses before it, the 1840 was still under the jurisdiction of the U.S.

Americans have long looked to the decennial census for truths about themselves, and the 1840 version presented them with an improbable and incendiary notion. Slavery was good for Black people, the ...

On Aug. 1, 1790 — 235 years ago Friday — the first Constitutionally-mandated U.S. Census was completed. While those of us who love data enjoy poring over the results of each decade’s census, the ...

This is part five of a series focusing on the non-population schedules that accompany certain years of the federal census. The 1840 Veteran Pensioners Census. In 1840 the census enumerators were asked ...