Founding1790
First U.S. Census Completed
The first United States Census was completed, counting 3,929,214 people across the original thirteen states plus the districts of Kentucky, Maine, Vermont, and the Southwest Territory. The census was mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution.
Why It Matters
The census established the constitutional mechanism for apportioning congressional representation and allocating federal resources, making accurate population counting foundational to representative democracy.