1870 United States census
ninth national census of the United States, taken on June 1, 1870; first to provide detailed demographic info on African Americans
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.
The 1870 census's population estimate was controversial, as many believed it underestimated the true population numbers, especially in New York and Pennsylvania. 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 Act of 1850
The Census Act of 1850 established the primary machinery of the ninth census. The Census Office, working within the Department of the Interior, oversaw the recording and tabulation of results gathered by assistant marshals, who were hired and supervised by federal marshals. Two new structural changes during the 1870 census occurred: marshals had to return the completed population questionnaire to the Census Office in September, and penalties for refusing to reply to enumerator questions were extended to encompass every question on the questionnaires.
The public source identifies “1870 United States census” as ninth national census of the United States, taken on June 1, 1870; first to provide detailed demographic info on African Americans. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around United, States and census.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q2975555. The Library of Congress control number is sh2007100407. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1870, 1871, 1860 and 1850.
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This entry incorporates text from “1870 United States census” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.