How did the 1790 United States census count free white men women and enslaved people differently?

The 1790 United States census did not count all individuals equally; rather, it categorized the population to determine political representation and taxation in accordance with the United States Constitution.

The enumeration process distinguished between groups as follows:

• Free Persons: The census counted the "whole number" of free persons, which included those bound to service for a term of years. This category encompassed free white men and women.1
• Enslaved People: Under the Three-fifths Compromise, enslaved individuals were counted as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of apportioning both representatives in the House of Representatives and direct federal taxes.1
• Exclusions: The census explicitly excluded "Indians not taxed" from the population count used for representation.1

This system was fundamentally rooted in the political objective of balancing power between states, prioritizing the maintenance of national unity over the human rights of enslaved people. The 1790 census was the first of its kind in the United States, marking a significant shift toward using demographic data for legislative apportionment.12