For 236 of America’s 250-year history, the census has measured our nation’s population. It has also tracked our values, interests, and changes in the way we live.
Census questions, how they’re asked and of whom, capture what’s important to American society.
Housing, employment, slavery, manufacturing, immigration, voting access, and more. Public demand for information on these topics has fluctuated over the course of American history, punctuated by the census count at the start of each decade.
How did events like the Westward Expansion, the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights Movement change the census — and how did it adapt over time?
The framers of the Constitution tied apportionment of the U.S. House of Representatives to a once-a-decade population count, starting with the…