Census Study Essays - States Of The United States, Virginia

The censuses of 1790, 1800, and 1820 show an exponential growth in the state and national populations. Although the Southern states did increase in population, the Northern states grew at a drastically quicker pace. Thanks to the industrial expansion in the North, states like New York and Pennsylvania, population skyrocketed over that 30 year time span with increases of 340,120 1,372,812 and 434,374 1,049,458, respectively. This was a drastic change in comparison to 1790, in which Virginia, 747,610, had a leg up on the next closest state, Pennsylvania, 434,373, by upwards of 300,000 people. With the tariffs and embargoes that the Jefferson administration brought, the Souths population dwindled in comparison to the Norths. Between 1790 and 1820, Virginia only grew by 190,000 people. That is only a 25% increase compared to a booming Northern state, New York, whose population increased by 303% over the same 30 year span. The center of population seemed to drift northward as time passed. In 1790, the population was predominantly concentrated in Virginia, with the high population states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Maryland surrounding Virginia on all sides. In 1800, New Yorks population jumped while Marylands population dwindled. This effectively slid the center of population slightly more north than it was 10 years prior. In 1820, two states, Pennsylvania and New York surpassed 1,000,000 people are subsequently surpassed Virginia who had not even cracked 7 figures. As a matter of fact, other than Virginia, New York more than doubled every other southern state in population. This massive influx of northern population was thanks in part to the rapid northern industrial expansion and the limited southern agricultural workforce. The norths rapid population increase forced the center of population more northern than it had been before. This combined with the introduction of more western states mov ed the center of population farther away from Virginia, where it was 30 years ago. This industrial boom as well as the multitude of trading ports led to increased urbanization in the north while the plantation and agricultural based south lagged behind. The ramifications of this population explosion in the north were detrimental to the souths sway in the House of Representatives since the number of representatives per state was dependent on the states population. This is a crucial matter especially in 1820 and thereon because of the slavery topic. Since the North had more representatives, the Houses vote was almost solidified to be in favor of the Norths viewpoints. This was exemplified on subject matters pertaining to taxation, transportation, and slavery. Another ramification is overcrowding. Large eastern cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Boston were becoming increasingly crowded. This lack of land forced many a family to trek westward in search of larger shares of property. The uneven distribution in the House did start to even out with the addition of populous southern states like Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Tennessee, but were eventually futile due to the seemingly exponential growth of Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio.