Black Demographic Data 1790-1860

An excellent resource on the changing population distribution of antebellum Black Americans, this book covers census data by region and state. Two-thirds of the book consists of tables and graphs providing dimensional representations of black populations, both free and slave, in pre-Civil War America.

The book opens with a discussion of the limitations of the census data, then goes on to provide an overview of the progress of manumission, abolition, and restrictions on black migration. The book also examines the 1840 census controversy. It will be a particularly useful resource for scholars concerned with changes in the black population.

Review: Researchers, teachers, and students have long needed a reliable source of information about African American demography in the decades before the Civil War. Clayton Cramer provides us with just such a book. -Steven Mintz Professor of History University of Houston