Agricultural and Demographic Records for Rural Households in the North, 1860: [Instructional Materials]

These instructional materials were prepared for use with AGRICULTURAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC RECORDS FOR HOUSEHOLDS IN THE NORTH, 1860 (ICPSR 7420), compiled by Fred Bateman and James D. Foust. The data file and accompanying documentation are provided to assist educators in (an SPSS portable file) instructing students about the history of agriculture and rural life in the North, just prior to the Civil War. An instructor's handout has also been included. This handout contains the following sections, among others: (1) General goals for student analysis of quantitative datasets, (2) Specific goals in studying this dataset, (3) Suggested appropriate courses for use of the dataset, (4) Tips for using the dataset, and (5) Related secondary source readings. Demographic, occupational, and economic information for over 21,000 rural households in the northern United States in 1860 are presented in the dataset. The data were obtained from the manuscript agricultural and population schedules of the 1860 United States Census and are provided for all households in a single township from each of the 102 randomly-selected counties in 16 northern states. Variables in the dataset include farm values, livestock, and crop production figures for the households that owned or operated farms (over half the households sampled), as well as value of real and personal estate, color, sex, age, literacy, school attendance, occupation, place of birth, and parents' nationality of all individuals residing in the sampled townships.