Below you will find a folder filled with images of pages of the United States census from 1850. This was the first census to list occupations.
Choose any two of the pages and summarize what you’re seeing.
Things to look for: occupations, race, gender, marital status, age, property value, where the person was born, (were they immigrants?), why these kinds of jobs might have been appropriate for this particular area. You might look at a map and find the location of the town where this particular census page is from.
If you like, you can look at the census of your own hometown. The only thing to keep in mind is that census images are available for free via the service FamilySearch.org, but you have to register. I prefer not to require students to do that in order to do the assignment. If you don’t mind and you are really curious about the jobs of people in your hometown in 1850, then follow these steps:
Go to https:
stevemorse.org/census
eelframes.html
On the topmost line, you will see “Viewing Census Images for the” – be sure to choose the 1850 census.
Under 1a. Choose the state and the county and the town. If you can’t find your county or town, it might not have existed yet.
Under 2, choose a page number. You can start with 1 or click any pages. Then you will have to choose a city/town, and then you will have to log in to FamilySearch.org
Some advice/info:
1. Yes, the handwriting can be difficult to read. Please give it a try or move on to a census with better handwriting.
2. If you see a listing for someone that says "At home" or "Keeps house," that person is probably the wife or a female relative, and by "at home" or "keeps house," it probably means she is doing much of the "housework," which was a significant household duty in 1850, a time when there were no washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, or 4-burner stoves.
3. Children were also “at home” or “at school.”
4. If you see a job and you don’t know what it is, do research.
5. Write about what you find surprising or interesting.
Your short paper should be approximately one page or 2-3 paragraphs long.