ABSTRACT
The American Constitution required the taking of a decennial national census in order that “representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states… according to their respective numbers.” The Act providing for the First Census was promptly passed by Congress, and signed by President Washington on March 1, 1790. It called for the seventeen marshals of the judicial districts to ascertain the number of inhabitants within their respective districts. The marshals were empowered to appoint assistant marshals to do the work of enumeration; the actual number employed for the 1790 census has been estimated at 650. 1
