The first census count in the U.S. began on the first Monday in August of 1790.

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.

—Article I, Section 2, of the United States Constitution

Required by the U.S. Constitution to help determine the number of representatives and the amount of direct taxes owed by each state, the first U.S. census count began on the first Monday of August in 1790. The first census was carried out by marshals in each judicial district. The marshals were required to visit every house and to record the name of the head of the household and the number of persons living within. The people were also categorized as free white males over 16, other free people and slaves. A copy of the count was posted in two public locations within each jurisdiction. The modern census differs greatly from the original count; the categories tracked by the census have completely changed. Today’s census is interested in ethnic background, not free status. Today’s census uses the mail as well as door-to-door visits by professional census counters to collect data, and it uses statistical sampling techniques instead of counting each individual in the country. The modern census also collects a wider range of statistics about individuals including their housing, employment, income and other factors. Census results are available on the Internet, CD-ROM and microfiche, as well as in paper form.

Xpeditions
In How Do You Like a Crowd? (K–2), students consider what it’s like to be in heavily and sparsely populated places. They experience population density firsthand in a class simulation and then map their town or school to show the most and least populous areas.

In Charting Countries of the World (3–5), students collect information about countries, and then enter that information on a chart. This chart compares the sizes, populations and political characteristics of different countries. Using this information, students ask and answer geographic questions as they relate to the division and control of Earth’s surface.

How Crowded Are Our States? (3–5) helps students combine information from statistics and maps to find out about world and national population characteristics.

There’s No Place Like Home (3–5) helps students explore the reasons people choose to live in different locations. Using children’s literature and maps, students learn about the variety of reasons—practical, personal, natural and political—people choose to settle in one place or another.

In Interpreting Population Statistics (6–8), students are introduced to population statistics such as birth, death and literacy rates. They compare these indicators for several countries, graph the results and then hypothesize what their graphs reveal about the countries.

Human Migration Within and Into the United States (9–12) includes student examination of actual census data from 1980 and 1990 as students learn w