Increase of Population

The Following table exhibits at a glance the growth of population in the United States, and affords a basis for many instructive comparisons and deductions:

Census of	White.	Fee Col’d.	Slave.	Total.
1790	3,172,414	59,469	697,897	3,929,897
1800	4,304,501	109,305	803,011	6,305,037
1810	5,362,004	186,410	1,304,364	7,235,814
1820	7,661,931	213,504	1,598,125	9,639,191
1830	10,537,378	319,599	2,009,018	12,065,020
1840	14,195,695	386,303	2,517,435	17,000,453
1850	19,553,114	434,440	3,254, 373	23,194,876
1860	27,008,081	469,122	3,953,587	31,413,790

The number of slaves now exceeds the entire population in 1790 by 23,760.  The increase of the slave population however, has been less rapid, by 26 per cent. than that of the white population.  The free blacks now are about two thirds the number of slaves in 1790.  If the increase and relative proportions should hold good for another 70 years, there will be in the United States in 1930, a total population of some 243,000,000, of whom 22,000,000 will be slaves, and 4,000,000 free negroes.  The slavery question will then have vast proportions, if not previously solved.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, February 15, 1862, p. 2

NOTE #1:  The table above is my best guess as to what the article reported, this article was transcribed from a digitized microfilm copy of the newspaper, and the table in the article appeared in a considerably smaller font than the rest of the article, and consequently the numbers are extremely difficult to read, even when magnified, these #’s should not be relied upon.  Please consult accepted historical data for applicable census information.

NOTE #2:  According to the U. S. Census Bureau the United States population in 1930 was 122, 775,046.