Background

This lesson focuses on the growth of slavery in the period 1790-1820. In the American Constitution, the Founders specified that an accurate count of the number of citizens in the country had to be made every 10 years. This was to ensure that the number of congressional districts kept up with population growth and, thus, the House of Representatives would truly represent all citizens. Generally, white men of a certain age with some property were able to vote in these congressional districts and in their states, yet congressional representation was based on the total number of all people, including women, children, slaves, and indentured servants.

In the case of slaves, including them in the census count was a problem, as they were considered property rather than human beings; yet the southern states feared a loss of legislative power if slaves were not included in the count. The Founders, therefore, crafted a compromise in the Constitution to appease slave states: the new republic would count all slaves but only include three-fifths of their number when formulating congressional districts.

The official census bureau was not founded until 1840; before then, marshals of the state courts were supposed to conduct a census every 10 years, a much less accurate process than the one later conducted by the federal government. In fact, the 1800 census was particularly poorly done and presents problems when we do a decade-by-decade comparison. Therefore, this exercise will measure the growth of slavery using these two data points — 1790 and 1820.

Source

For this activity, Source and Analyze the Evidence sections are combined. Please continue to Analyze the Evidence.

he negative figure of -.99, which you multiply by 100 to create a negative percentage of -99%. The percent change of -99% indicates not only that slavery in Connecticut declined over 30 years but that it plummeted and was close to disappearing.

25 – 2,764 = -2,739 ÷ 2,764 = -.99 × 100 = -99%

Finally, in the last row make the same three calculations on the US population.

Percent Change in Slavery in the North and the South, 1790-1820

Using the information gained from the chart, answer these two questions. How did the change in slave population over 30 years in Virginia and Maryland compare to the slave population of Deep South states like Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina? Do these statistics support Winterer’s argument?

Compare the slave populations of the Southern states with the New England States, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. What seems to be happening to slavery in the North and the South?