IPUMS Full Count Datasets of the 1850 and 1860 Censuses of the Enslaved Population of the United States: Version 2.0

The United States 1850 and 1860 censuses included two population schedules: Schedule 1 was for the nation’s free inhabitants (86.2% of the total population in 1850 and 87.4% of the total in 1860), while Schedule 2 was for the nation’s “slave inhabitants” (13.8% and 12.6% of the total population in 1850 and 1860, respectively). IPUMS full count datasets for the free population in 1850 and 1860 constructed using information collected in Schedule 1 are available at the main IPUMS site. The IPUMS Full Count Datasets of the 1850 and 1860 Censuses of the Enslaved Population are based on information collected in Schedule 2, which included relatively few questions. In both years, enumerators recorded each enslaved person’s age, sex, color, and disabilities, but not their name, occupation, birthplace, literacy and other information as they did for free individuals in Schedule 1. At the slaveholding level, enumerators also recorded each slaveholder’s name, the number of enslaved persons in the holding who had been manumitted in the prior year, and the number who had escaped and remained fugitive in the prior year. In 1860, the number of houses provided to enslaved individuals on the slaveholding was also recorded. Unfortunately, information on disabilities, manumissions, fugitives, and houses were incompletely captured in the construction of the full count datasets. Both datasets include several constructed variables useful for researchers, such as holding size and number of slaveholders. Where they could be determined using automated linking algorithms, the IPUMS historical identifier of each slaveholder is included in both datasets, allowing users to link approximately 84% of slaveholders in 1850 to their records in the IPUMS full count dataset for the free population and approximately 80% of slaveholders in 1860. The IPUMS Full Count Datasets of the 1850 and 1860 Censuses of the Enslaved Population replace the version 1.0 sample datasets, although users interested in disabilities, manumissions, fugitives, and houses should consult the earlier sample datasets, which captured this information more consistently.