The American Census: A Social History

by Margo J. Anderson

This book, published on the eve of the bicentennial of the American census, is the first social history of this remarkably important institution, from its origins in 1790 to the present. Margo Anderson argues that the census has always been an influential policymaking tool, used not only to determine the number of representatives apportioned to each state but also to allocate tax dollars to states, and, in the past, to define groups-such as slaves and immigrants-who were to be excluded from the American polity. "As a history of the census, this study is a delight. It is thoroughly researched and richly detailed. Anderson is to be commended for covering such an expansive chronology with such skill. . . . Anderson has woven together not only social history but also intellectual, institutional, political, and military history into a thoroughly readable book that examines not only changes in the census but also the remarkable changes that have taken place in the US."-Choice "This book is valuable, clearly written and contains many interesting facts. It should be read not only by national policymakers and the statistical community, but by all who are interested in American society."-Bryant Robey, Population Today "A solid and readable piece of social, political, and institutional history. It will be essential reading not only for historians of American politics but also for census and population experts, for any public policy formulators who rely on census figures, and for those interested in the history of numeracy and statistics."-Patricia Cline Cohen, University of California, Santa Barbara

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Anthropology, Social Commentary

271 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2015

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - 4.0 (7 -8)
Read: 1x
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I read this for a long class and independent research project, but I still enjoyed it! I learned a lot about the United States Census, American Political Development (APD), sociological intersections in counting identities, and missing representation in counts from a structural and cultural framework.

It's fairly standard and dry text, but the information it contains is fascinating. It's clear that Anderson is an influential scholar on all things census from this book, and it feels like a privilege to see her insights, research, and perspective. It also provides the necessary background context to begin formulating your own ideas and questions.

[Michael Tapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for book on the history of the US Census, congratulations. You found it. This book isn't an easy read but it is jam packed with info. The author def did their homework and I learned a lot about the US from this book. The US census has been a important aspect of the development of the US and it's always going to be a prickly issue as the US continues to change. Also, the book is printed on nice paper and doesn't feel cheap. I think it's worth $30.

[Shannon Hong · Rating 3 out of 5]

important things to know. relatively dry, but well written.

it's interesting to see how the census evolved from something very small to a huge bureaucratic apparatus -- also how it once was at the forefront of technology & now it's viewed as smthg very antiquated.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating overview and history of the American census. As a genealogist who works with census records on nearly a daily basis, this was invaluable to understanding census records. Highly recommend. Great overview of American history.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book gave me a better idea of the census has evolved thru 200 years. I use the census for genealogy research and was an enumerator for 2020. It is interesting to read how the census became a tool for grant-making as well as apportionment.

[Mills College Library]

304.6 A548a 2015

[Poppy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really detailed and thorough look into the politics surrounding the US census. Particularly interesting with the apportionment of US government f

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick institutional history of the Census Bureau, the primary narrative being how it professionalized and bureaucratized over the decades. I am more interested in learning how the practice of taking a census became accepted from the very earliest years of the American republic as a means through which to determine national political representation, which this book engages with throughout but never confronts quite head-on enough for my hopes. But this is still a useful starting point; the history runs up until the 1980s census, and highlights many of the major political debates that each set of census data fed into. It is really remarkable that American census exercises have been conducted with such regularity and the resulting reapportionment of power among the states on the basis of their relative population shifts has been so generally accepted (as contentious as it has been at times). Perhaps the fact that the slave and free state factions initially sought to balance their respective representatives through the Missouri Compromise, rather than just abrogating the census entirely as a means of reapportioning political power between themselves, may have helped give the practice enough institutional inertia to continue unchallenged through other less existential sectional disputes through American history. Perhaps other countries whose use of the census lack comparable pressures from new territories seeking statehood representatives that could force such a compromise and acceptance of census-driven representation (or perhaps the lack of new territory makes all such census exercises higher-stakes zero-sum processes). More contemporary arguments over mal-apportionment and gerrymandering are touched on in the last chapter and is probably the angle to dig into more in the future reading.

[Jim Blessing · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got about 40% into this book and just lost interest. The book is just not very interesting.