The 1790 census was the first to record the number of enslaved people living in the US. This census revealed that the majority of those enslaved lived in the South. This article will explore the 1790 census and the location of the most enslaved people in the country.
1790 Census: Enslaved Population
The 1790 census was the first to document the enslaved population in the US. According to the census, there were 694,280 enslaved people living in the US at the time, representing 19.3% of the population. Of those enslaved, 59.4% lived in the South, while the remaining 40.6% lived in the North.
Most Enslaved People Living in the South
The majority of the enslaved population lived in the South. This was due to the fact that the South was primarily an agricultural region, and relied heavily on the labor of enslaved people to work on plantations and farms. In the South, there were 412,820 enslaved people, making up 59.4% of the total enslaved population.
The states with the highest number of enslaved people in the South were Virginia, with 292,627; Maryland, with 103,036; and North Carolina, with 100,572. These three states alone accounted for 57.2% of the total enslaved population in the US.
In comparison, the North had 281,460 enslaved people, making up 40.6% of the total enslaved population. The states with the highest number of enslaved people in the North were New York, with 21,324; Pennsylvania, with 13,730; and Massachusetts, with 7,787.
The 1790 census revealed the extent of slavery in the US and showed that the majority of those enslaved were living in the South. This was due to the region’s reliance on agricultural labor, which was provided by the enslaved population. The three states with the highest number of enslaved people were Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina, which accounted for 57.2% of the total enslaved population in the US.
