Census History
Census History
Censuses have been taken since ancient times by emperors and kings trying to assess the size and strength of their realms. These early censuses were conducted sporadically, generally to levy taxes or for military conscription. Clay tablet fragments from ancient Babylon indicate that a census was taken there as early as 3800 bc to estimate forthcoming tax revenues. The ancient Chinese, Hebrews, Egyptians, and Greeks also conducted censuses. However, enumerations did not take place at regular intervals until the Romans began a count of their empire’s inhabitants. Among the Romans the census was usually a count of the male population and assessment of property value. It was used mainly for drafting men into military service and for taxing property.
After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century ad, census taking disappeared for several hundred years. The small feudal communities of the Middle Ages had neither the mechanisms nor the need for censuses. However, in 1086 William the Conqueror ordered the compilation of the census-like Domesday Book, a record of English landowners and their holdings. From the data given in this survey, which was made to determine revenues due to the king, historians have reconstructed the social and economic conditions of the times.
The modern census dates from the 17th century, when European powers wanted to determine the success of their overseas colonies. Thus the British crown and the British Board of Trade ordered repeated counts of the colonial American population in the 17th and 18th centuries, starting in the 1620s in Virginia. The first true census in modern times was taken in New France, France’s North American empire, beginning in 1665. The rise of democratic governments resulted in a new feature of the census process: The 1790 census of the United States was the first to have its results made public. For more information on the history of censuses in the United States and Canada, see the United States Censuses and Canadian Censuses sections of this article.
Sweden began to conduct censuses in the mid-18th century, and England and Wales instituted a regular decennial census in 1801. During the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the practice of census taking spread throughout the world. India conducted its first national census in 1871, under British rule. China’s first modern census, in 1953, counted 583 million people.
The United Nations encourages all countries to conduct censuses. It also promotes adoption of uniform standards and census procedures. The United Nations Statistical Office compiles reports on worldwide population. (1)
Census
- Census
- Census Information
- Census Conducting
- Census Planning
- Census Information Collection
- Census Processing and Analysis of Data
- Census Publication of Results
- Census in the U.S.
- U.S. Censuses Origins
- U.S. Early Censuses
- United States: Censuses Breakthroughs in Automation
- Modern Censuses in the United States
- Census in Canada
- Early Censuses in Canada
- Modern Censuses in Canada
Leave a Reply