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THE UBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
ENDOWED BY THE DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC SOCIETIES
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Publications
American Economic Association
Vol. XI. Nos. I, 2 and 3. Pages 1-329.
Race Traits and Tendencies
American Negro
FREDERICK L. HOFFMAN, F.S.S.
Statistician to the Prudential Insurance Company of America
AUGUST, 1896.
PUBLISHED FOR THE
American Economic Association
BY The Macmillan Company
NEW YORK
LONDON : SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO.
Copyright 1896 by
American Economic Association
Andrus & Church,
ithaca, n, y.
THE RACE TRAITS AND TENDENCIES of the AMERICAN NEGRO
PREFACE.
About ten years ago I began, for my own information,
the collection of vital and social statistics of the colored
population of this country. The first results of these in-
vestigations were published in the Arena in April,
1892 ; a second contribution was published in the Medi-
cal News in September, 1894, and a third, dealing with
the Negro in the West Indies, appeared in the Publica-
tions of the American Statistical Association^ in 1895.
The large body of facts accumulated has made a more
elaborate treatment seem feasible and the final result is
the present work.
At the commencement of my investigation, especially
in regard to longevity and physiological peculiarities
among the colored population, I was confronted with
the absence of any extensive collection of data free
from the taint of prejudice or sentimentality. Being of
foreign birth, a German, I was fortunately free from a
personal bias which might have made an impartial treat-
ment of the subject difficult. By making exclusive use
of the statistical method and giving in every instance a
concise tabular statement of the facts, I believe that I
have made it entirely possible for my readers to arrive
at their own conclusions, irrespective of the deductions
that I have made.
During the course of my inquiry it became more and
more apparent that there lie at the root of all social diffi-
culties or problems, racial traits and tendencies which
make for good or ill in the fate of nations as well as of
individuals. It became more apparent as the work pro-
gressed, that, in the great attempts at world bettering, at
the amelioration of the condition of the lower races by
those of a hiofher degfree of culture and economic well
vi Preface.
being, racial traits and tendencies have been almost en-
tirely ignored. Hence a vast sum of evil consequences
is met as the natural result of misapplied energy and
misdirected human effort.
The need therefore, of a presentation of the facts as
they pertain to racial differences between the white and
colored populations of this country, and the consequent
differences in the tendencies of the two races, seemed
sufficiently clear to demand that publicity should be
given to such facts as I had been able to collect ; and
while I have ventured at times to add my own deduc-
tions, or interpretation of their meaning, such deduc-
tions or interpretations are subject to the reader's own
verification in view of the facts themselves.
The close relation of social and moral phenomena to"
economics, is, I believe, fully demonstrated by the results
of this work. The absolute need of a more searching
investigation of the underlying principles of human pro-
gress or retrogression, becomes more than ever apparent.
In the words of Mr. Bryce : '/'But for one difficulty the
South might well be thought to be the most promising
part of the Union, that part whose advance is likely to be
swiftest, and whose prosperity will not be least secure.
This difficulty, however, is a serious one. It lies in the
presence of seven million negroes."
If this be true, it behooves the general government as
well as the governments of the several states, to institute
annually such inquiries in regard to the material and
social condition of the colored race as will demonstrate
beyond a doubt the existence of vital factors affecting its
progress or retrogression. Such inquiries would be free
from the sectional prejudice or sentimental regard of those
who are now arrayed on either side of the " race question."
If such an investigation were undertaken by the De-
partment of Labor, it w^ould lead to very beneficial re-
Preface. vii
suits by furnishing a basis for definite conclusions as to
the results of philanthropic and charitable efforts in be-
half of the colored race. In the absence of this much
needed government investigation, the present inquiry
may serve a useful purpose in stimulating others to
special inquiry along the many lines indicated.
In the preparation of this work, extending over so
many years, I have been materially aided by so many
public and private individuals in all parts of this country
and the West Indies, that it would be impossible to make
a proper acknowledgement of my obligations in each in-
dividual case. To all those who have so kindly aided
me with advice or documentary evidence, I extend my
most sincere thanks, and trust that the results of the in-
vestigation will prove a compensation for the personal
inconvenience I may have caused them.
I am, however, especially indebted for advice and in-
formation to Mr. Carroll D. Wright, the Commissioner
of Labor, Dr. John S. Billings, U. S. A., Dr. S. W-
Abbott, secretary of the Massachusetts state board of
health. Dr. Arthur Newsholme, Brighton, England,
M. Charles Letourneau, secretary of the Anthropological
Society of Paris, Mr. S. P. Smeeton, the registrar-
general of Jamaica, Mr. Archibald Allison, the colonial
secretary of Bermuda, Dr. D. T. Rogers of Mobile,
Ala., Dr. H. B. Horlbeck of Charleston, S. C, Dr.
Gordon De Sassure, of the same city. Dr. Jerome Coch-
rane, of Montgomery, Ala., and Emmons Clark, Esq.,
secretary of the New York board of health.
I am indebted to Professor W. F. Willcox for most val-
uable assistance in the prosecution of the investigation
and final publication of the results ; also to the publica-
tion committee of the American Economic Association,
but especially to Mr. F. S. Kinder of Cornell University,
for considerable and valuable assistance in the reading of
viii Preface.
the manuscript and proofs for final publication. To the
librarian of the Public Library of Newark I am under
obligations for exceptional privileges afforded in the use
of a valuable collection of transactions of scientific socie-
ties, as well as of other valuable publications not easily
obtainable. Most of all am I indebted to my wife for her
kindly and sympathetic assistance and many personal
sacrifices during the early years of my labors. Without
her encouragement and never failing sympathy, the com-
pletion of this work would not have been possible in a
business life where only spare hours could be devoted to
an investigation of this nature.
In an investigation extending over so many years,
and involving so large a number of calculations and sta-
tistical quotations, errors are almost unavoidable. But
having taken every precaution to insure absolute accu-
racy, I feel confident that no error sufficient to affect the
conclusions has occurred. If the work accomplishes its
purpose and leads to a more searching investigation into
the underlying causes of race progress or retrogression ;
if it leads to more scientific attention to the relations
between the superior and inferior races, as contrasted
with the present dangerous method of guess work, it
will not have been written in vain. For after all it is
a question of living beings and not of theories ; and no
philanthropy or charity that in all its missionary efforts
has not been able to save the living man^ has any claim
to be called successful. Race deterioration once in pro-
gress is very difficult to check, and races once on the
downward grade, thus far at least in human histor)-, have
invariably become useless if not dangerous factors in
the social as well as political economy of nations.
Frederick L. Hoffman.
j6i Broad Street., Newark., N. /.,
July 28, i8p6.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PREFACE,
CHAPTER I. PopuivATioN,
Growth of Colored Population in the Country at Large— In
Different Sections of the Country— Increase in the Cities as
Compared with Rural Districts — Concentration in Sections of
Cities— Migration from Rural to Urban Districts— Concentra-
tion in Rural Districts— Inter-State Migration— Colonization .
— Summary.
CHAPTER II. ViTAi. STATISTICS, 33
Statistics of Births and Deaths in Four States — In Selected
Cities — Rates of Mortality According to Age and Sex — Accord-
ing to Conjugal Condition— According to Altitude.— Before
and since Emancipation — Expectation of Life for White and '
Colored — Causes of Mortality— Neglect of Children — Infant
Mortality — Consumption— Pneumonia — Venereal Diseases —
Malarial and Typhoid Fevers— Yellow Fever— Small Pox —
Measles— Scarlet Fever— Diphtheria — Croup — Childbirth and
Puerperal Fevers — Tumors and Cancers — Appendicitis — Alco-
holism — Insanity and Lunacy — Suicide — Summary.
"CHAPTER III. Anthropometry,
■J*C>
Relation of Weight to Age and Stature — Lung Capacity
and Mobility of Chest — Respiration — Physical Strength —
Vision — Summary.
— CHAPTER IV. Race Amalgamation, 177
V "^^
Theories Regarding Race Crossing— The Mulatto— Race
Amalgamation advocated in U. S. — Law of Similarity —
Mixed Marriages in U. S. — Illicit Relations and Illegitimacy.
X Table of ConteJits.
CHAPTER V. Social Conditions and Tendkncies, . . . . jo^
Development of Religious Institutions — Education — Crime
— Vice and Immorality — Pauperism and Dependency.
CHAPTER VI. Economic Condition and Tendenciks, . . . 250
Efficiency of the Negro as an Agricultural Laborer — In the
Cultivation of Tobacco— Rice— Cotton — Wages of White and
Colored Labor — Ownership of Land— Supervision of Negro
Laborers — The Negro as an Industrial Factor — Representa-
tion Among Different Occupations before the War— Wages
and Efficiency— Effect of Education on Industrial Efficiency
— Conflicts with White Labor— Colored Labor and the Cot-
ton Mill -Representation among Different Occupations at
present — Indians as Producers— Difficulty in obtaining Em-
ployment—Accumulation and Taxation — Estimated Wealth
of Negroes in U. S. — " Freedman's Savings and Trust Com-
pany" — Assessed Valuation of Property in Georgia — Virginia
— North Carolina — Taxes paid in Virginia— School Taxes in
North Carolina— Cost of the Negro to the State— Summary.
CHAPTER VII. Conclusion 310
/
THE RACE TRAITS AND TENDENCIES OF
THE AMERICAN NEGRO.
Chapter I.
POPULATION.
The progress of tlie colored population in the United
States, and more particularly in the southern states,
has for more than fifty years past been a matter of the
most serious concern to those who have observed the
results of the presence of a large and growing negro
population. The natural bond of sympathy existing
between people of the same country, no matter how
widely separated by language and nationality, cannot be
proved to exist between the white and colored races of
the United States. To-day, after thirty years of free-
dom for the negro in this country, and sixty years in
the West Indies, the two races are farther apart than
ever in their political and social relations. To-day,
more than ever, the colored race of this country forms
a distinct element and presents more than at any time
in the past the most complicated and seemingly hope-
less problem among those confronting the American
people.
It is therefore a matter of the utmost importance that
the true condition of this population should be fully
understood in all its intricate details, to eliminate every
possible doubt as to the seriousness and importance of
the problem to the people of the southern states as well as
the larger cities of the North and West. In the endless
2 American Economic Association.
discussions that have been carried on for years past as
to the condition and future of the colored people, the
fact that there is a northern side to the question has never
been fully taken into account. Only by means of a thor-
ough analysis of all the data that make up the history of
the colored race in this country can the true nature of the
so-called ' negro problem' be understood and the results
of past experience be applied safely to the solution of
the difficulties that now confront this country in dealing
with the colored element.
The most threatening danger, numerical supremacy,
may be considered as having passed away, if indeed it
ever existed in fact. Leaving aside the results of the
eleventh census, which clearly proved a smaller increase
in the colored population than in the native white, the ma-
terial is abundant and will be fully presented in this mon-
ograph, to prove that, independent of the census returns,
the gradual decrease in the decennial growth of the
colored population can be fully explained.
During the past decade, however, according to the
census returns, the increase in the colored population of
the southern states has been so much less than that of
the wdiite race, and so much less than the believers in
Professor Gilliam's prediction had cause to expect, that
the accuracy of the census has been disputed by many,
even though they had no means whatever at their com-
mand of proving the truth of their charges. Since
many of the tables and calculations in this paper are
necessarily based on the eleventh census it may not be
out of place for me to state that after the most careful
analysis of the results in this and many other investiga-
tions I am convinced that the eleventh census was as
carefully taken as any one of the ten preceding enumera-
tions. This conviction is based principally on a study
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. 3
of the age distribution of the population, which is
probably the most delicate test applicable to census work.
During the ten years, 1 880-1 890, the colored popula-
tion of the southern states increased only 13.24 per
cent, in contrast with an increase of 23.91 per cent, for
the white population of the same section. The total
white population of the country at large increased
26.68 per cent, and the total colored population 13.51
per cent, during the same period. This result, therefore,
disproves Professor Gilliam's prediction that the increase
of the colored population would be 35 per cent per
decade, and makes impossible the realization of the
further prediction, which has been so widely copied,, that
in seventy or eighty years tlie blacks will largely predom-
inate in every southern state. Professor Gilliam, as so
many other writers on this subject have done, relied in
his calculations on only one element of the natural in-
crement of a population, namely, the birth rate ; he
ignored the far more important influence o£ the death
rate. To what absurdities such calculations may be
carried is perhaps best illustrated by the following table
COMPARATIVE ESTIMATES OF THE PROBABLE COLORED POPULATION
OF THE UNITED STATES.
j
United States
\ Census.
Estimate of Estimate of
Darby.i De Bow.2
Estimate of
Kennedy.3
Estimate of
Prof. Gilliam.-*
1830
1840
1850
2,328,642
2,873.648
3.638,808
4,441,830
4.880,009
6,580,793
7,470,040
8.458.952'
2 8q^ 1\\
1 ....
A I Itl 70Q
i860
7,860, n8 [ 4,319,452
10,669,236 5,296,235
14,329,701 6,494,334
19,208,740 j 7,962,004
25.825,878 1 9.766,884
1870
1880
1890
1900
5.407,130
6,591,292
7,909,550
9.491.459
12,000,000
1 " Vie-n
of the United
states." (Philadelphia, 1828
). Pages 438-
40.
2 " South and West," Vol. II, page 305.
3 Preliminary report on the eighth census, page 7.
* "Popular Science Monthly," Vol. XXII, page 437. (For the Southern States
only).
5 Estimated by the writer.
4 American Econo^nic Association.
of comparative estimates, by a number of writers, of the
colored population in the United States at different
periods of time.
Of the various estimates here brought together, those
of DeBow and Kennedy come nearest being approxi-
mately correct, while those of Darby and Gilliam are far
out of the way. Darby made no allowance for a possible
increase in the death rate, nor could he foresee the eman-
cipation of the slaves in 1863. Both De Bow and
Kennedy were thoroughly familiar with the vital statis-
tics of the negro, and so made allowance for a probable
gain of the death rate on the birth rate, as well as for a
probable decrease in the latter. Professor Gilliam, who
had at his command the mortality statistics of southern
cities — especially of Savannah, Charleston, Mobile, New
Orleans and Richmond — could easily have ascertained
the element of error that vitiated his elaborate calcula-
tions. His assumption that the colored population
w^ould for years to come increase at the rate of 3.5 per
cent, per annum was justified neither by past experience
nor by the returns o\ the census of 1880. The census
of 1870 was admittedly defective and this consideration
should have prevented him from using the rate of in-
crease in this decade as a formula for calculating the
colored population for the next century. As has been
stated, the rate of increase during the decade 1880-90
was considerably less for the colored population than for
the whites ; whereas Professor Gilliam estimated the
probable annual gain of the southern white population
at only .tSvo per cent., in contrast with an assumed gain
of 3.5 per cent, per annum for the colored population.
Thus he estimated a probable colored population for
1900 of twelve millions: in all probability it will not
reach seven and a half millions. According to Professor
Race Traits and Tcndcnn'es of the American Negro.
5
Gilliam's method of calculating, the population in 1890
should have been slightly in excess of nine millions,
while the census showed only 6,741,941 in those states.
estimate; of the colored population of southern states,
1SS0-1900.
Prof. Gillian's Result of the
Estimate. Cen.sus.
1S80 6,000,000 5,953,903
1890 9,039,470' ..... 6.741,941
1900 12,000,000 7,634,450'
1 Calculated by the writer in accordance with Prof. Gilliam's method.
• Calculated by the writer in accordance with the method of Dr. Farr.
These examples illustrate the uselessness of attempts
to arrive at accurate results on the basis of enumerations
which do not show the underlying elements of the popu-
lation or affard the means of stating the probable ten-
dency of a population for a long period of years. Rea-
soning from gross results in this as in other branches of
statistical inquiry must be useless and misleading.
I have gone into considerable detail in my account of
the elements of the colored population in order that
those who have neither time nor opportunity to consult
the original reports may know the sources of the in-
formation and the basis of the tables which are intro-
duced in other parts of this work. Only after a
comprehensive study of the intricate details of these
elements can the nature of the problem as to the future
of the negro and his relation to the white race in this
country be understood.
The table which follows shows, for periods of thirty
years each, the progress of the colored and white popu-
lations in the country at large during the present century.
I have selected this method because there is no apparent
n^d of giving the results of all of the eleven enumera-
tions of the population, and also because the use of tlie
defective census of 1870 is thereby avoided.
American Economic Association.
POPULATION OF THE UNITKD STATES, 1800 to 1890.
White Colored Per ct. of
Population. Population.' White.
1800 4,306,446. . . . 1,002,037. . . .Si. 12. .
1830 10,537,378. . . . 2,328,642. . . .81.90. .
i860 26,922.537 .... 4,441,830 . . . 85.62 . .
1890 54,983,890 .... 7,470,040 .... 87.80 . .
Per ct. of
Colored.
. 18.88
. . 18.10
. . 14.13
• • 11-9.^
' Previous to i860, Chinese and Indians were counted as colored ; for 1S60 and
1890 these are excluded.
It will be observed that the proportion of whites in the
total population has gradually increased from 81.12 per
cent, in 1800, to 87.80 per cent, in 1890. This increase
in the proportion of whites is to a considerable extent
due to the large immigration in the past fifty years.
The southern states, however, have been affected but
ver>' slightly by foreign immigration. The table which
follows shows that the proportion of the colored to the
white population has increased in some states and de-
creased in others during the past sixty years. During
the period 1 860-1 890 the proportion of whites increased
in seven out of the thirteen southern states. During the
last census period the proportion of colored to whites in-
creased in only two of these thirteen states — Mississippi
and Arkansas ; all the other states show a considerable
decrease.
PERCENTAGE OF NEGROESi IN TOTAL POPULATION— 1830-1890.
PRINCIPAL SOUTHERN STATES.
Maryland
District of Columbia,
Virginia,
North Carolina, . . .
South Carolina, . . .
Georgia,
Florida
Kentuck}',
Tennessee,
Alabama
Mississippi,
Louisiana,
Texas,
Arkansas
20.69
32.80
38.37
3467
5985
46.74
42.46
14.42
24-37
44.«4
57.58
49-99
21.84
27.40
1S60
24.91
1907
34.39
36.4a
58.59
44.05
44.63
20.44
2550
45.40
55.28
49.49
30.27
25.55
1830
34.88
30.81
42.69
35-93
5563
42.57
47.06
24-73
21-43
38.48
48-44
58.54i
15.52
1 Persons of African descent only.
Race Traits and Tcndeyides of the American Negro. 7
That this condition is not due to any decided tendency
on the part of the colored population to migrate to
northern states is clearly borne out by a careful study of
the census returns. The most satisfactory method of
arriving at a definite result is probably a comparison of
the native resident populations — that is of the numbers
of those living in the states in which they were born.
In this comparison only the native whites are taken into
account and compared with the native colored. I have
abstracted from the census volume the returns for five
representative southern states, and calculated from the
actual returns the proportionate increase in the native
white and native colored elements. For purposes of
comparison the percentages which the population so de-
fined makes of the total white and the total colored popu-
lation, respectively, are also given.
POPULATION BORN AND LIVING IN STATE.*
i8go I 18S0 Increase
Native Native
Whites. Whites.
South Carolina, . ' 435.594 363.576
Georgia j 873,234 717,276
Alabama, .... 660,848 506.917
Mississippi, . . 440,670 353.247
Louisiana, .... 444,230 341,974
72,018
155.958
153.93'
87.423
102,256
Per ct. of
increase
iSSo-90.
Percentage of
total White
Population.
l8qo. iSSo.
19-81 95-55 94-77
21.74' 90-35 88.93
30.371 80.68 77-67
24.75 82.04 75.09
29.90 87.18 85.03
COLORED.
South Carolina,
Georgia, . . .
Alabama, . . .
Mississippi, . .
Louisiana, . .
», ,. I »- ,- i , Per ct. of Percentage of
Native Native Increase j^^ease total Colored
Colored Colored. Ponnintion
1S90. I iSSo. ; 188<V90. 1880-90. ^?P"^^'7sSo.
677,175 588,819
798,747 677,938
607,058 507,716
622.996 509,938
478,655 386,348!
88,356
120,809
99.342
113.058
92,3071
15.01 98.28 97.45
17.S2 93.01 93.50
19-57 89.39 84.60
22.17I 83.68 78.21
23-89 85.58 79-89
1 Census of 1890, Vol. i, Population, pp. CVX.
8 American Economic Association.
PERCENTAGE OF DECENNIAL INCREASE IN THE RESIDENT NATIVE
POPULATION OF FIVE SOUTHERN STATES.
Native
White.
Native
Colored.
White over
Colored.
vSouth Carolina, .
. . I9.S1 . .
. . 15.01 . .
. . 4.80
Georgia, ....
. . 21.74 • •
. . 17.82 . .
• • 392
Alabama ■
■ . SO.37 . •
• . 1957 • •
. . 10.80
Mississippi, . . .
. . 24.75 . •
. . 22.17 . .
. . 2.5S
Louisiana, . . .
. . 29.90 . .
. . 23.89 . .
. . 6.01
These tables prove conclusively the steady gain of the
native white on the native colored population, and the
larger natural increase — excess of births over deaths —
in the white population. This is most marked in Ala-
bama, and least so in ISIississippi. But it is remarkable
that the latter state should show even the slight excess
in favor of the white race that it does, since the increase in
the total colored population has been greater than the
increase of the white race, owing to a considerable
migration of colored people from other states to the low-
lands of the Mississippi. The small increase in the
colored population of Alabama is to a great extent due
to the drifting of the negroes into the large cities which
have grown up in that state during the past decade, in
which the mortality among the colored is higher than
that recorded for any other American cities at the pres-
ent time.
The tendency of the colored population to leave the
country and congregate in the large cities either of the
South or North, is one of the most distinct phenomena
of the past thirty years. Immediately previous to the
outbreak of the war the colored population of the larger
southern cities formed but a small proportion of the
aggregate population of these cities. If, for purposes of
illustration, we take the fourteen largest cities of ten
southern states we shall find that in i860 only 18.85 P^^
cent, of the population of these cities was colored, as
Race Traits ^nd Tendencies of the American Negro. g
compared with 36 per cent, of the colored in the total
population at large of the ten states. In 1890 the states
under consideration contained sixteen large cities with
29.08 per cent, of colored population, while in the total
population of these states the proportion of colored was
nearly the same as in i860, or 35.96 per cent." The next
three tables give, first, the aggregate and the colored
population of ten southern states at the censuses of i860
and 1890, together with the proportion of the colored in
the total population ; second, the same information for
fourteen cities in i860, and for sixteen in 1890; third,
the increase in the white and the colored population dur-
ing the thirty years 1860-90 for the states, the cities
named, and the states excluding the cities. The last may
be considered for the present purpose as rural, although
many cities of considerable population are included.
PROPORTIOX OF THE COI,ORED IN THE TOTAI, POPULATION OF TEN
SOUTHERN STATES.— 1860 AND 1890.
Total
Population,
1890.
PcS:^^n.b?^-p^n,
Colored
Population.
Per ct.
Color' d
Delaware
Maryland.
Dist.ofCol.
Virginia .
S. Carolina
Georgia . .
Kentucky.
Tennessee.
Alabama .
Louisiana.
168,493
1,042,390
230,392
1.655.980
1. 15', 149
1,837,353
1.858,635
I. 767.518
1,513.017
1,118,587
28,386 .
215,657! •
75.572, .
6ii:^^4i :
858,8151 .
268,071! .
430,678 .
678,489 .
559,193 •
112,216
687,049
75,080
1,596,318
703,708
1,057,286
1,155,684
1,109,801
964,201
708,002
21,627
171,131
14,316
548,907
412,320
465.698
236,167
283,019
437,770
350,373
■ •
10 S. States
12,343,514
4,439.233 35-96
8,169,345
2,941,328
36.00
American Economic Association.
PROPORTION OF THE COLORED IN THE TOTAL POPULATION OF SIX-
TEEN SOUTHERN CITIES, i860 AND 1890.
Wiliiiiiigtoii, Del. .
Baltimore, Md. . .
Washington, D. C.
Norfolk, Va. . . .
Riclinioncl, Va. . .
Charleston, S. C. .
Atlanta. Ga. . . .
Augusta, Ga. . . .
Savannah, Ga. . .
Louisville, Ky. . .
Chattanooga, Tenn,
Memphis, "
Nashville, "
Birmingham, Ala .
Mobile, Ala. . . .
New Orleans, La. .
16 Southern Cities.
Population Popular n ^,qJjjj.,jJ
Populat'n Populaf u cnVA
1S60. I 1S60. ,^"'"
61, 43'
434.439
230.392
34. «7'
81,38s
54,955
65.533
33-300;
43.1^9
161,129
29,100
64.495
76,168
26,178
3 '.076]
242,039!
7.644'
67,1041
75,572;
16,244!
32.330]
30,970
28,098,
15.875
22,9631
28,651,
12,563!
28,706
29.382
11.254
13.630
64,491.
21,258
212,418
75,080
14,620
37.910
40,522
9.554
12.493
22,292
68.033
22,62^
16,988
1,669,683 485,4771 29.08^ 751,724
2.214
27.898
J4.3'6
4,330
14.275
17.146
1.939
4049'
8.4<7
6,820
'3.SS2
3,945
29,258 8,4041
[68,675 24,0741
141,709; 18.85
INCREASE— WHITE AND COLORED POPULATION OF TEN SOUTHERN
STATES, 1860-1S90.
Population of Ten
Southern States.
Population
in Large Cities.
Colored. White. Colored.
Population in States
Excluding Cities.
White. I Colored.
i860 .... '5,228,017 2,941,328 610,0x5! 141, 709'4,6l8,002;2, 799,619
i I I I ! I
1890 . . . 7,904,2814,439.2331,184,206 485,4776,720,0753,953,756
Increase. 2,676,2641,497,905
Increase
per ct.
574,141: 343,7682,102,123 r, 154,137
51.19 50.93
94.1
2.12.60 45.52 41.23
The summary of the first two tables is given in the
third, in which also the white population is given.
As shown by this table the white population of
the ten southern states increased 51.19 per cent dur-
ing the thirty years 1860-90, while the colored popula-
tion increased at almost the same rate, or 50.93 per
cent. Considering the population of the cities it is
shown that the white population increased 94.11 per
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro, ii
cent., as compared with an increase of 242.60 per cent,
for the colored dnring the same period. This phenom-
enal increase in the colored population of southern cities
during the past thirty }'ears is perhaps the most con-
vincing evidence of the changed conditions at the South,
as affecting the future of the colored population. After
all that has been said on the modern tendency of civil-
ized peoples to leave the country for the cities, there are
probably no other instances of such wholesale migration
to the city as is here shown. In marked contrast with
this enormous increase in urban population stands the
small increase in the colored population of the rural sec-
tions of the states under consideration, a rate of increase
considerably below the rate shown to prevail for the
white race. Since 89.07 per cent, of the colored popu-
lation of these ten states still live in the rural sections of
the country, the fact that the rate of increase there
should be less for the colored than for the white race is
highly significant. If we compare the urban with the
total population in i860, 11.67 percent, of the white pop-
ulation lived in the large cities, increasing during thirty
years to only 14.89 per cent. ; in contrast with an in-
crease from 4.82 per cent, of colored urban population in
i860 to 10.93 P^'^ cent, in 1890.
PERCENTAGE OF WHITE AND COLORED POPULATION LIVING IN THE
LARGE CITIES OF TEN SOUTHERN STATES IN i860 AND 1S90.
White.
Colored.
Population of Ten States
" of 16 Large Cities
i860. 1S90.
5,228,017 7,904,281
610,015 1,184,206
i860. 1890.
2,941,328 4,439.233
141,709 485,477
Percentage in Large
Cities
11.67 14-89
4.82 10.93
12 American Ecoyioinic Association.
During the last decade this migratory tendency of the
colored population has been more pronounced than ever,
affecting not only the large cities but also those of pro-
portionally small colored population. I have grouped
the cities into two classes, those with a colored popula-
tion in 1890 of 10,000 to 20,000, and those with more
than 20,000. The per cent, of increase is larger for
the small than for the large cities, but the numerical in-
crease in the large cities was more than twice that in
the other group. The white population of these cities
increased at a lesser rate than the colored, which agrees
with the results of the comparison made in preceding
tables for the period 1860-90.
POPULATION OF THE LARGK CITIES.— 1S80-1890.
I White Colored
I Population. Population.
1R90. 1880. I 1890. i.SSo.
Washington, D. C 154,695 107. 7'4 75-572 52,135
Baltimore, Md 367,143 27.S,5S4 67,104 53,716
New Orleans, La \ 177,376 158,367 64,491 57,617
Philadelphia, Pa 1,006,590 815,362 39,371 31,699
Richtnoud, Va 49,034 35.765 32.330 27.832
Charleston, S^ C 23,919 22,699 30,970 27,276
Nashville, Tenn 1 46,773 27,005 29,382 16,337
Memphis, Tenn | 35,766 18,677 28,706 14.896
Louisville, Ky | 132,457 102,847 28,651 20,905
Atlanta, Ga I 37,416 21,079 28,098 16,330
St. Louis, Mo 424,704 328,191 26,865 22.256
New York, N. Y 1,489,627 1,185,843 23,601 19.663
Savannah, Ga 20,211 15,041 22,963 15,654
Total Population 3965,711 3,117,174498,104 376,316
Increase, 1890 over 1880. .... 848,537 . . . 121,788
Increase, Per Cent. . . . I . . . . 27.22 ... 32.36
1;
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. 13
TEN CITIES WITH FROM 10,000 to 20,000 COLORED POPULATION IN 1890.
I White
Population.
Chicago, 111 1,084,998 496,495
Brooklyn, N. Y j 795,397 55«>427
Cincinnati, O 285,224 246,912
Kansas City, Mo 118,821 47,613
Norfolk, Va I 18,617 11,898
Augusta, Ga I 17,395 ",771
Mobile, Ala i 17,429 16,885
Chattanooga, Tenn 16,525 7. 8*^7
Houston. Tex - 17,178 10,026
Birmingham, Ala 14,909 .... 11,254
Total Population 2,386,493 1,407,834 129,849
{Increase, 1890 over 18S0 ... . . 978,659 ....
Increase, Per Cent . . . . j . . . . 69.51 ....
Colored
Population.
1890.
iSSo.
14,271
6,480
10,287
S,095
11,655
8,179
13,700
8,143
16,244
10,068
15,875
10,109
13,630
12,240
12,563
5,082
10,370
6,479
These two tables forcibly illustrate the importance of
the negro problem to all sections of the country, since
the tendency here shown to exist must, if not checked
in a few decades, materially increase the colored popu-
lation of all the large cities of the country. It wilj sur-
prise many to be told that Philadelphia has a colored
population of almost forty thousand ; this number being
exceded in only three other cities, Washington, Balti-
more and New Orleans. And while the colored element
forms a far more important factor in the large cities of
the South than in those of the East and West, still it
presents in the latter no less serious problems, but of a
different nature and more complex in form. For in
the large cities of the South the colored population is
fairly well distributed over the whole city, with the ex-
ception of Richmond, where the larger portion of it is
contained in a single ward. In the cities of the North
and West the negroes are crowded into a \Qxy few wards.
In Richmond the negro district is designated " Africa,"
and it may be truthfully said that in each of the large
14
American Economic Association.
cities of the North and West in which the colored peo-
ple have settled in sufficient numbers, one may find an
" Africa" of the Richmond type. The two tables below
show for six cities of the North and West and six of
the South the distribution of the colored population by
wards according to the census of 1890. These tables
are the first, I believe, to present with a considerable de-
gree of accuracy the massing of the colored population
DISTRIBUTION, BY WARDS, OF THE COLORED POPULATION OF SIX
LARGE NORTHERN CITIES. (Census 1890).
,
Boston.
New York
Brooklvn.
Phil'a.
Cincinnati.
Wards.
Chicago.
25 Wards.
24 Wards.
26 Wards.
34 Wards.
30 Wards.
I . . .
1 3.381
56
124
272
794
171
2
2.744
24
19
70
522
1.759
3
2,997
50
17
193
861
59
4
722
143
40
494
2.573
487
5
401
40
61
502
2.335
482
6
33
55
108
84
125
1,286
7
3
50
9
61.
8,861
21
8
4
388
687
44
3.01 1
238
9
10
16
2,547
1,126
417
497
480
73
226
76
709
798
257
II
222
1,099
JO
1,910
II
12
12
335
123
3,951
338
21
13
695
47
9
94
539
2
14
41
46
130
I
1.379
194
15
49
23
2,201
60
1,751
242
16
14
784
2,188
397
104
633
17
51
622
105
13
124
782
18
610
389
434
52
II
1,589
19
98
777
1.933
589
275
589
20
127
4,782
799
1,333
590
21-
' " 38
45
546
228
93
162
22
88
32
4,275
164
1,798
134
23
149
200
495
214
1,026
185
24
306
47
275
958
930
199
25
18
185
1,190
260
378
26
41
. . . .
222
1,375
202
27
28
29
30
31
88
....
2,077
103
53
36
644
130
.
. . . .
1,476
137
479
42
218
382
131
■
. . . .
32
.
....
. .
19
190
33
.
34
207
• • • •
"...
1,073
T
ot
il .
! 14,271
8,125
23,601
10,287
39.371 11,655
Race Traits and Teyidencies of the American Negro. 15
DISTRIBUTION BY WARDS OK THI
: COLORED
POPULATK
)N OF SIX
LARGE SOUTHERN CITIES.-(Census 1890.)
Charleston,
Norfolk,
Mobile,
Atlanta, Ga.
Louisville,
New Orleans,
Wards
S. C.
Va.
Ala.
Ky.
La.
8 Wards.
6 Wards.
8 Wards.
6 Wards.
12 Wards.
17 Wards.
I
I,5IS
2,272
1,891
6,749
1,087
2,753
2
2,763
1,526
207
3.233
748
3.270
3
3,ooS
3,122
61
3.899
1,777
9.475
4
4,914
8,617
257
6.390
2,982
3.555
5
4,187
157
1,124
3.172
3.664
6,676
6
5.447
550
2,735
4,655
1,699
3.740
7
3.332
5.138
876
7.729
8
5,801
2,217
. .
2,663
1,330
9
3,356
2,664
;?
4.883
3.789
4,311
5,260
12
1,127
2,572
13
2,174
14
1,274
15
4.492
16
. .
1,982
17
_
1.234
Total,
30,970
16,244
13.630
28,098
28,651
64.491
of northern and western cities into a few wards — which
as a rule are the most undesirable sections of the cities.
With the data given it will be easily possible for the
resident of any one of the cities to verify the writer's
statements. It needs to be observed that this tendency
is much more manifest in the North than in the South.
It may be that the distribution of the colored population
in the southern cities appears more even from the fact
that the subdivisions are larger than in the northern and
western cities.
The tendency towards concentration is more distinctly
presented by taking the total of the colored population
of a few wards and comparing this number with the
white population of the same wards. If we take, for
instance, Chicago, we shall find that out of the 14,271
colored persons living in that city, 9,122 or 63.90 per
cent, were living in three wards, which contained at the
same time only 6.3 per cent, of the total white popula-
i6 American Economic Association.
tion. In other words, these three wards contained al-
most two-thirds of the total colored, and less than one-
fourteenth of the white, population. This condition is
met with more or less in every city of any importance
in the North and West. In the case of the six cities,
selected for the purpose of illustration, the facts are
brought out clearly in the table below :
PERCENTAGE OK. THE WHITE AND COLORED POPULATION LIVING IN
THREE WARDS WITH LARGEST COLORED
POPULATION. (Census 1890).
I -rrr,.-^ Whitc ' Pct- r^ir>,»^ Colorcd Pcr-
! White populat'u centage p'-^,,,,^,^ Populatncentage
Population, in Three of Tot'l ^"PP^f* " in Three of Toi'l
1890. Wards. White. '^^o- Wards. Color 'd
Chicago .... 1,084,998 68,408 6.30 14,271 9,122 63.90
Boston I 439,887 47,862 10.88 8,125 4,430 54.52
New York. ...! 1,489,627 469,751 31.53 23.601 13,008 55.11
Brooklyn 795.397 79-958 10.05 10,287 4,058 39.44
Philadelphia . . 1,006,590 52,909 5-26 39,37' 14,445 3669
Cincinnati... . 285,224 23,606 8.28 11,655 4,634 39.75
Six Cities.. .1 5,101.723' 742.494 i4-55i io7.3io 49.897 46-49
The concentration according to this table would seem
to be greatest in Chicago and least in Philadelphia, while
the percentage of whites living in the three wards with
largest colored population is least in Philadelphia and
greatest in New York. The conclusion would seem to
be warranted that the most unfavorable conditions for the
colored population as indicated by the disproportionate
number of whites in the same localities are to be found
in Chicago and Philadelphia.
How far this is true for the former city is demon-
strated by the maps attached to the volume of " Hull
House Maps and Papers," modeled after ■Mr. Booth's
great work on the " Life and Labour of the People of
London." The work, which seems to have been done with
exceptional care, was under the direction of Mrs. Florence
Kelley, chief factory inspector of Illinois, who had
Rare Traits and Tcndoicics of the American Negro. 17
charge of the investigation made by the United States
Burean of Labor of the shims of large cities. The two
maps attached to this vohime show the concentration of
the colored population of the area investigated, which
includes parts of the three wards referred to in the table
above. One map shows the nationality and color of the
inhabitants of the section, the other the houses desig-
nated as ' brothels.' The first reveals that the colored pop-
ulation is concentrated in a very limited area, which at
the same time contains but a small number of whites,
while the rest of the section, inhabited by various nation-
alities, does not appear to contain a single house inhabited
by a colored person as a home. The second map shows
that the section inhabited almost exclusively by colored
persons is also the section which contains all the houses
of ill-fame in this part of the city.
So far as my personal investigations have gone, the
condition shown to exist in Chicago is found more or
less in all of the other large cities of the North and
and West. In Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and Cin-
cinnati, the large majority of the colored population is
found to be living in the worst section of the city, a
section in which vice and crime are the only formative
influences. The negro in the North and West therefore
presents an even more serious problem than the negro
in the South, if mere numbers are disregarded.
In most of the states of the North and West the
rural counties are showing a constant decrease in the
colored population, the cities a constant increase. In
Missouri, for instance, out of a total of 115 counties, 74
show a falling off in colored population during the ten
years 1880-1890, while the five largest cities show a
considerable increase. In Indiana, which state at one
time was threatened with an invasion of negroes from
i8 American Economic Association.
the southern states, the colored population has decreased
in 48 counties. In Ohio 47 counties show a falling off
in colored population, while seven cities of the state show
an increase of a little more than nine thousand during
the last census period. For the two states, Ohio and
IMissouri, I have worked out a table in which the growth
of the urban at the expense of the rural population is
brought out with singular force.
COLORED POPULATION OF THE RURAL AND URBAN SECTIONS OF
OHIO AND MISSOURI, 1880 AND 1S90.
Ohio. Increase.
Total Colored population 87,113 79,900 7,213
City of Cincinnati 11,655 8,179
Cleveland 2,989 2,038
Columbus 5,525 3,010
Dayton 2,158 991
Springfield 3,549 2,360
Toledo 1,077 928
Xenia i,S68 1,943
Total Colored population of 7 cities . . 28,821 I9>449 9,372
Remainder of State 58,292 60,451 ^2,159
Missouri. Increase.
1S90. 18S0. 18S0-90.
Total Colored population 150,184 145.350 4,834
City of St. Louis 26,865 22,256
Hannibal 2,073 1.83S
Kansas City 13,700 8,143
St. Joseph . 3,686 3,227
Springfield 2,258 1,494
Total Colored population of five cities . 48,582 36,958 11,624
Remainder of State 101,602 108,392 '6,790
1 Decrease.
We see that in two of the richest agricultural states
of the Union the colored population is leaving the farms
for the cities. In both states the rural sections show an
actual decrease in the population while the cities alone
show an increase. This increase is therefore not a
Race Traits a7id Tendencies of the American Negro. 19
natural one, that is, an excess of births over deaths, but
is largely due to migration. There is no corresponding
tendency of the colored population to migrate from one
city to another. Most of the new comers are from the
countr}', but the city negro rarely returns to the country.
The tendency must in the end cause a general decrease
of the colored population of the northern states, since
the very heavy death rates of the negro population of
the large cities is not overbalanced by a greater birth
rate.
In the southern states this tendency prevails, but to a
less extent, on account of the very large rural popula-
tion in which losses by migration to the towns would
easily be balanced by a more favorable birth rate. In
many sections of the South, however, the negro seems
more and more to drift into those counties and tiers of
counties where his people are largely in the majority.
Such counties form what is known as the ' Black. Belt,'
of which the most important sections are the Mississippi
river belt which stretches from the Gulf to Memphis,
and the belt of the South Central States, which, passes
through central IMississippi, Alabama, Georgia and. tlie
southern part of South Carolina.
An aggregation of the colored population is to. be
found in every southern state such as I have shown to
exist in the northern cities.
In all these aggregations the colored people are in the
vast majority, but this does not seem to prevent the
whites from maintaining control of public affairs. Even
in counties where the negroes outnumber the whites
fifty to one the principal offices of the county are in the
hands of the latter.
I have deemed this point of sufficient importance to
abstract from the census returns a table for the principal
20 American Econo7nic Association.
southern states showing the concentration of the colored
population in certain counties, which at the same time
contain but a very small proportion of whites. In some
instances, it will be observed, the whites are but a very
small fraction of the total population. This tendency,
if persisted in will probably in the end prove disastrous
to the advancement of the colored race, since there is
but the slightest prospect that the race will be lifted to a
higher plane of civilization except by constant contact
with the wdiite race.
PROPORTION OF COLORED TO WHITES IN SELECTED COUNTIES OF
SEVEN SOUTHERN STATES, 1S90.
Alabama.
Counties. Whites.
Bullock 6,055
Dallas 8,016
Greene 3,235
Hale 5,iSo
Lowndes 4.563
IMareugo 7.946
Montgomery 14,682
Perry 6,812
Russell 5,814
Sumter 5,943
Wilcox 6,794
Arkansas.
Chicot 1,392
Crittenden 2,050
Jefferson 10,951
Lee 4,691
Phillips 5.695
Florida.
Jackson 6,332
Jefferson 3,558
Leon 3,121
Georgia.
Burke 5,817
Dougherty i,975
Green 5,332
Hancock 4,739
Harris 5,999
Houston 5 272
Monroe 6,621
Col'd to 1,000
Colored.
Whites.
21,005
3,469
41.329
5,156
18,771
5,802
22,321
4,309
26,985
5.9'4
25,149
3.165
41,485
2,826
22,516
3,305
18,729
3,221
23.631
3.976
24,022
3,445
10,023
7,200
11,890
5,800
29,908
2,731
14,187
3,024
19,640
3.449
11,211
1,771
12,199
3.429
14,631
4,688
22,680
3.899
10,231
5,180
11,719
2,198
12,410
2,619
10,797
1,800
16,341
3,100
12,516
1,890
Race Traits and Tendencies of the A7ncriean Negro.
Counties. Whites.
Oglethorpe 5,686
Steward 4,198
Sumter 7,008
Wilkes 5,616
lyOUISIANA.
Caddo 8,003
Concordia i,757
De vSoto 6,638
East Carroll 997
Ea.st Feliciana 5,196
Iberville 6,696
Madison 931
Tensas 1,153
West Feliciana 2,276
Mississippi.
Adams 6,128
Claiborne 3,533
Grenada 3,896
Holmes 7,084
Jefferson 3,589
Leflore 2,597
Lowndes 6,009
Madison 6,031
Marshall 9,731
Noxubee 4, 709
Sunflower 2,530
Tunica 1,259
Washington 4,838
Wilkins 3,962
Yazoo 8,690
South Carolina.
Abeville '5,142
Beufort 2,695
Berkely 7,687
Chester 8,482
Clarendon 6,987
Colleton 14,032
Edgefield I7,340
Fairfield 7, 139
Georgetown ........ 4.053
Hampton 6,827
Newbery 8,966
Orangeburg 15,654
Richland ii,933
Sumter 11,813
Williamsburg 9,355
Col'd to 1,000
Colored.
Whites.
11,264
1,981
11,484
2,736
15,098
2,154
12,464
2,219
23,541
2,942
13,112
7,463
13,220
1,992
11,360
11,394
12,707
2,446
15,142
2,261
13.204
14.183
15,492
13.436
12,785
5,617
19,895
3-247
10,980
3, 108
11,076
2,841
23,883
3,371
15,356
4,279
14,267
5,494
21,036
3,501
21,290
3,530
16,306
1,676
22,629
4,So5
6,850
2,708
10,895
8,654
35,530
7,344
13,626
3,439
27,701
3,188
31.705
2,094
31.421
11,659
47,739
6,210
18,178
2,143
16,246
2,325
26,245
1,870
31.916
1,841
21,460
3,006
16,840
4,155
13,717
2,009
17,468
1,948
33,738
2,155
24,885
2,085
31,792
2,691
18,420
1,969
22 Atnerican Economic Association.
Desirable as it would be to go into the details of this
tendency of the negroes to congregate in certain rural
sections of the South, as has been done for the large
cities, it is not possible to do so here. The many
changes that have been made in the area of such
counties as it would be most desirable to investigate,
make a thorough study of this phase of the problem
exceedingly difficult. In the state of Alabama, for
example, nearly all of the counties have undergone
some changes in area during the past thirty years, with
the exception of Dallas and Sumter counties, for which
the statistics are very interesting and instructive.
PROGRESS OF THE POPULATION OF TWO COUNTIES OF ALABAMA.
1850-1890.
Dallas Co. Sumter Co.
White. Colored. White. Colored.
1850 7,461 22,566 7,369 14,881
i860 7,785 25,840 5,919 18,116
1870 8,552 32,152 5.202 18,907
1880 8,425 40,007 6,451 22,277
1890 8,016 41,329 5.943 23,631
The colored population in both counties has increased
largely during the past forty years, while the white pop-
ulation has remained almost stationary or has actually
decreased. Part of the larger increase of the colored pop-
ulation is no doubt the result of migration from other
sections of the state ; a migration which, however, must
have taken place previous to 1880, since, during the dec-
ade 1880-90 the increase in the colored population of
both counties has been below the average.
The preceding table may be compared with the fol-
lowing which shows for four counties with a large white
population the white and colored population for the last
three census years.
Race Traits and Teiidencies of the American Negro. 23
PROGRESS OF THE POPULATION OF FOUR COUNTIES OF ALABAMA.
1870-1890.
Blount Co. Cleburn Co.
White. Colored. White. Colored.
1S70 9,263 682 7,441 576
1S80 14,210 1,159 10,308 668
1S90 20,155 1.770 12,427 791
Jackson Co. Walker Co.
White. Colored. White. Colored.
1870 16,350 3,060 6,235 308
1880 21,074 4,033 8,978 501
1890 24,179 3,840 14,422 1,656
The table shows that there is a similar tendency
toward concentration on the part of the white popula-
tion. Though this tendency does not seem general, the
whites in these counties have made gains in population
considerably in excess of the average rate of increase.
If the general tendency is due to emigration of the whites
from the counties now gaining in colored and decreas-
ing in white population, the fate of the negro West India
Islands will overtake the negro Gulf states of the
South.
The tendency to migrate to large cities and to certain
rural portions of the southern states, is not in the
nature of an exodus. In only a very few instances have
wholesale migrations taken place, and these as a rule
have met with disaster and have proved a disappoint-
ment to those who looked forward to colonization as a
means of solving the so-called " race problem." Proba-
bly the most notable instance was the so-called " Negro
exodus from the southern states" during the year 1879.
The movement assumed such proportions that a special
committee of the United States Senate was appointed
to investigate the causes which led to the emigration of
colored people from North Carolina, Louisiana, and
other states, largely to Kansas and Indiana. The com-
24 American Economic Association.
mittee held elaborate hearings, the results of which have
been published in a work of three volumes, forming a
valuable body of facts for study/
The main causes of this exodus would seem to have
been politicians, railways and land agents. There had
been some discontent on account of the restriction and
deprivation of the right to vote, but on the whole the
colored people seemed previous to this time to have been
contented. The exodus was largely the result of ex-
ternal causes and, as was expected at the time, proved a
failure. A few instances must suffice to make this point
clear, since I cannot go into the details of the movement.
But I wish to show that it was not so much the dissatis-
faction of the colored people with the prevailing con-
ditions in the southern states as it was the result of a
concerted arrangement of outsiders to induce them to
leave the plantations for the farms and cities of the
West.
One Benjamin Singleton appeared before the commit-
tee as a witness and testified that he was the " father of
the exodus," and that he had brought to Kansas, mostly
from Tennessee, 7,432 colored people during the period
1869-79. The people, according to this " father of the
exodus, " settled in Lyons and Cherokee counties, Kansas.
He asserted also that the emigrants he had taken to
Kansas " were happy and doing well " and that he was
" the whole cause of the emigration to Kansas. " " The
census returns of the past three decades fail to support
this assertion ; for according to the ninth, tenth and
eleventh censuses there never were, and are not to-day,
' Report and Testinionj' of the Select Committee of the United States
Senate to investigate the canj^es of the removal of the negroes from
the southern states to the northern states. 46lh Cong., second session,
Washington, D. C, 18S0. (Three Volumes.)
■•'Senate Report, Vol. I, p. XIII.
Race Ti-aits and Tendencies of the American Negro. 25
one-third of this number of colored persons in the two
counties named. In fact during the past decade the
very small number of negroes in these two counties has
decreased, in contrast with a large increase in the white
population.
PROGRESS OF THE POPULATION OF CHEROKEE AND LYON COUN-
TIES, KANSAS, 1R70-1S90.
Cherokee Co. Lvon Co.
Colored. White. Colored. White.
1S70 134 10,899 '26 7,SS8
iSSo i,86r 20,031 T.027 16,298
1890 1,342 26.421 1,031 22,163
The statement made, that 7432 colored people settled
in those two counties of Kansas cannot, therefore, have
been true. The aggregate population of these counties
has steadily increased, as is evidenced by the last state
census (1895) which gives to Lyon county a population
of 23,795 and to Cherokee 30,651. In view of this
progressive increase in the aggregate population it is
remarkable that the colored population should show a de-
cline. According to the reports of the Kansas Bureau of
Agriculture the general economic condition of these
counties is excellent, the aggregate value of agricultural
produce is considerable, the assessed valuation being
about seven million dollars for the former and four mil-
lions for the latter. There is a large variety of indus-
tries in agriculture and mining, and the section would
seem to be one where almost any class of people would
' increase and multiply.'
Among the many statements made before the commit-
tee as to the probability of the colored people meeting
with success in the northern states, is one by Senator
Blair who was a member of the committee. In reph-
to a statement by the chairman, Mr. Vance of North
Carolina, that he would not advise negroes to go to New
Hampshire, Senator Blair replied : " Well, I would, and
26 American EcoJiomic Association.
I will tell yon another thing, that twenty thonsand ne-
groes wonlcl do well in New Hampshire. I have known
a good viany ' negroes np in New Hampshire and I
never saw one that had any tronble in getting along
on acconnt of the climate. I extend a cordial invita-
tion to them to come to New Hampshire ; twenty
thousand of them could get along there and have a
chance of making a living. " ^ New Hampshire had a
colored population of 651 in 1790, 520 in 1850, and 614
in 1890. It would therefore seem that the cordial invi-
tation of the Senator of that state had not been heeded.
That the climate does play an important part in the
mortality of the negro will be shown in another part of
this monograph, in which the mortality of the race
will be dealt with.
Another interesting phase of the problem was brought
out in the testimony of a colored witness from Bolivar
county, INIiss. In reply to the question of the chairman
of the committee as to the causes of the exodus from
his county the witness replied : " So far as the exodus
from our county is concerned I don't believe there ever
would have been any man to leave there if it had not
been for a colored man that lives in Helena, by the name
of Dr. C . He came down here in '78 and he got it
into the minds of the people there that they could go to
Liberia ; that there was one tree there that bore the
bread and another that bore the lard and they had noth-
ing at all to do but to go to one tree and dry the fruit
that gave the bread and to the other tree and cut it and
set a bucket under it and catch the lard. It was the
most outrageous thing ever perpetrated on an ignorant
race in the world. "^
' The italics are the writer's.
'■^ Report and Testimony of Select Committee, etc., Vol. III., p. 34.
^ Ibid., Vol. Ill, page 520.
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. 27
In reply to the question of the chairman, " Is there
another place within your knowledge where the colored
people are so well off as they are in Bolivar count)' ? "
witness replies, " No sir, there is nowhere that they could
be better off if they would do only what they ought to
do and be industrious and work as they ought to work
to make their own way." ^ It may be of interest to
compare the progress of the colored with that of the
white population of this county for the past fifty years for
the purpose of showing how far the statements of this
witness are supported by the facts. In addition to the
data for Bolivar county, I give in the table below the
same facts for Washington county which adjoins Bolivar.
PROGRESS OF THE POPULATION OF BOLIVAR AND WASHINGTON
COUNTIES, MISSISSIPPI, 1840-1S90.
Bolivar Co. Washington Co.
White. Colored. White. Colored.
1840 384 972 654 6,633
1850 395 2,182 546 7,843
i860 1,393 9.078 1,212 14,467
1870 1,900 7,816 2.164 12,405
18S0 2,694 15,958 3,478 21,861
1890 3,222 26,737 4,838 35.530
The negroes according to the above table are largely
in the majority and increasing at a rate out of propor-
tion to the normal increase in the population at large.
The large increase is partly due to migration since a
natural increase in ten years of 10,779 ^'^ ^ population
of 15,958 would be impossible.
The most emphatic prediction was probably that of a
colored witness from Natchitoches parish. La., who ex-
pressed himself as follows in reply to the question of I\Ir.
Windom as to the probable effect on this exodus of the
election of a Democratic President : " The eff'ect would
' Report and Testimony of Select CommiUee, etc., Vol. Ill, page 523
28 American Economic Association.
be to create a great deal of consternation among them ;
I think it would cause them to leave the southern states,
not in a systematic way at all, but as they started away
this last year to go to Kansas, pell-mell — a regular
stampede — I am satisfied it would." ' Such was the
gloomy prediction. Twice since then a Democratic
President has been elected and the predicted exodus has
— not taken place. Much to the contrary the colored
population of Nachitoches parish has increased from
12,020 in 1880 to 15,551 in 1890, and the white popula-
tion of the same parish has made a corresponding
progress. So far as my information goes, no consternation
was created by the news of the election of }.Ir. Cleveland
in 1884 and 1892, and there was no stampede of any
kind.
The instances here quoted prove how far mere opinion
may mislead even the most sincere well wisher of the
colored race, and show the absolute necessity of a body
of carefully collected and thoroughly digested facts
from which to make deductions as to the present and pos-
sible future condition of the negro of the South. The
wholesale migration of the colored population of the
southern states to other sections of the United States, or
even to other countries, as IMexico and Liberia, may be
considered as the most remote possibility ; and it may
be safely asserted that all of the attempts in this direc-
tion have practically proven failures.
It would go beyond the purpose of this monograph were
I to attempt even an outline of the history of negro coloni-
zation, but I will quote the results of the most recent at-
tempt, that of colonizing American negroes in the state of
Durango in INIexico. Some seven to eight hundred
families entered into an agreement with a s^mdicate, by
1 Report and Testimony of Select Committee, etc., Vol. II, page 443.
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro.
29
which they were to have 60 acres of land or more, ac-
cording to size of family, forty acres to be planted in
cotton and fifteen in corn, and properly tilled nnder
supervision ; the right being reserved, in case of default,
to employ labor at the expense of the colonist. Five
acres were given rent free for the sustenance of each
family. In addition, water for irrigation was to be fur-
nished free, as well as farming implements, mules and
teams for farming purposes, and food for the same. The
colonists were to perform all labor and receive one-half
of the crops. Houses, fuel and water were provided
free, and rations, medicines, etc., were furnished at cost
to be repaid out of the crops. Land was set apart for
one church and one school house to each one hundred
families. The colonists were to receive one-half of the
cotton seed as well as one-half of all the other products
raised by them, and they obligated themselves to sell to
the promoters all their corn, cotton and cotton-seed at
the market prices. The cost of transportation was to
be advanced, and to be repaid out of their share of the
crops.
The agreement was to last for five years. It did not
last one year. The whole plan proved a dismal failure
and a considerable pecuniary loss to those who directed
it, as well as a loss of time, money, and even life, to the
colonists. The negroes proved unreasonable and of far
less service than had been expected. They were con-
trolled largely by bad leaders of their own race who
stirred up strife, and they were induced to leave ' by a
little rascal who had been but recently released from the
Georgia penitentiary.' The colony came to an inglori-
ous end.
As to the fitness of the negroes for the work they had
agreed to perform, and which, as has been pointed out
30 American Economic Association.
in the above summary of the agreement, was ahnost
identical with sonthern farm labor, I cannot do better than
quote portions of a special report to the Evening Post^
dated July 8, 1895. ^" In the course of these conferences
with the negroes it became evident that they are, as a
class, incapable of assimilating readily with new surround-
ings or of applying to them the first dictates of common
sense. They are superstitious, suspicious and easily
swayed by the intriguers among them. The impression
left on the mind of an unprejudiced obser\'er was, in short,
that seventy-five per cent, of the negroes had left home
from a love of novelty and adventure, had exhausted
these delights and were bent on repudiating their agree-
ments and forcing their partners in the contract to
restore them to their homes without regard to right or
reason. The conclusion drawn from a close study of
this colony was, I regret to say, that it was foredoomed
to failure. While the region in which it was laid was
no paradise, it was free from the objections incident to
most of the similar previous efforts of this sort.
Whether wisely or mistakenly guided, every endeavor
was made to meet the reasonable requirements of the
colonists. To those who interest themselves in the
future of the negro this experiment presents little cause
for congratulation. It indicates, that the same limita-
tions which hinder his advancement at home, are equally
apparent when he changes his habitation and that until
he is capable of self control and intelligent application
among the surroundings with which he is familiar there
is but small hope that he will succeed amid strange en-
vironments. . . If this experiment is entitled to rank
as an example it would seem that the ordinary negro
' hand' of the southern states, whatever are his trials and
tribulations at home, is more likely to be satisfied there
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. 31
than when transported to other, even if more favorable
scenes."^
I have qnoted from the report of Mr. Mackie at con-
siderable length becanse a correct view of the coloniza-
tion question is of the utmost importance. Colonization
is still advocated with persistency by many who see in it
the only solution of the so-called race question of the
South. If the negro cannot be colonized under such
favorable conditions as the experiment in Mexico pre-
sented (and no charge has ever been made that it was
not honestly managed on the part of the promoters of the
scheme) the sooner this is realized the better.
It has been shown that the negro has failed to gain a
foothold in any of the northern states as an agri-
cultural laborer ; it has been shown that he has re-
mained in the South, contrary to the many predictions
of wholesale migration ; and lastly it has been shown
that he has failed in the most recent experiment of
colonization. The conclusion to be drawn from the
statistical tables previously presented would be that he
is in the South as a permanent factor, with neither the
ability nor inclination to leave this section in large num-
bers, for the North or for foreign countries. The observed
tendency to drift into the cities, there to concentrate in
the most undesirable and unsanitary sections, is therefore
of considerable importance, since it is most likely to be
persisted in with increasing force in the future. The loss
thus sustained by the rural districts of the South is not
very large numerically nor proportionally, and the evil
effect will be more felt by the cities which are thus
augmented in population of an undesirable character.
The further tendency to concentrate into certain sections
of the South, especially those which already possess a pre-
' Charles Paul Mackie in the New York Evening Post.
32 American Eco7iomic Association.
ponderating colored population, presents the most serious
aspect of the problem. We have here to deal with
large numbers ; which must have a corresponding effect
on the welfare of the individual state thus affected, as
well as on the nation at large.
Chapter II.
vital statistics.
" Mortality statistics surpass all other vital statistics in importance,
whether they are considered from a social, an actuarial or a sanitary
standpoint." — Newsholme.
. This part will be devoted almost exclusively to a dis-
cussion of the mortality statistics of the colored popu-
lation, together with such information pertaining to the
white population as will bring out the most important
differences in the vitality of the two races. Desirable
as it would be to have as a basis a comparative state-
ment of the birth rates of both races, it must be admit
ted that information on this point is almost entirely
wanting, and that no trustworthy conclusion as to the
comparative fecundity can be arrived at. In the forth-
coming eleventh census reports on mortality, by Dr.
Billings, we may expect to find the best that can be
done in this direction at the present time ; and a com-
prehensive discussion of the comparative mortality may
enable us to make up for the want of reliable informa-
tion as to the comparative fecundity.
That the birth rate of the negroes is in excess of that
of the white population is probably true even at the
the present time, at least as compared with the native
whites. That it is not as high as has often been stated,
however, is proved by the fairly accurate statistics of
the West Indies. In Alabama we have had for a series
of years a commendable attempt to collect information
in this line, but with a varying degree of success. For
some of the northern states, especially Rhode Island,
34 American Economic Association.
Connecticut and Massachusetts, valuable information
has been collected but in view of the differences
in the age distribution of the colored population of
those states as compared with the whites, it is difficult
to arrive at a correct estimate. It would appear, how-
ever, that in the northern states the negro mortality is
in excess of the natality ; while the reports for Alabama
show a birth rate equal to twice the death rate. Among
the whites of Alabama the reports show three births to
one death. The admitted defects of the Alabama re-
ports may be assumed to affect the rates for both races
in the same degree, and the excess of natural increase
'in the white population as compared with the colored
is probably correctly represented by the table below :
VITAL STATISTICS OF THE WHITE AND COLORED POPULATIONS OF
ALABAMA, 1888-1893.
white Population.
Colored Population.
Ratio of
Ratio of
Births.
Deaths.
Births
to Deaths.
Births.
Deaths.
Births
to Deaths.
1888.
10,841
3.673
8,263
4,046
1889.
14,649
5,066
9.765
4,994
1890 .
13.631
4-716
9.955
5.005
I89I .
11,484
3.827
9.138
4.283
1^92 .
10,819
3.720
8,237
4,100
. . .
1893-
12,453
3.945
9,961
55,319
4.406
26,834
I8S8-93
73,877
24,947
2.96 to r
2.06 to I
In Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts the
vital statistics for the colored population have been col-
lected for many years, but it is only for the first named
state that I am able to give the returns for a period of
some length. For Massachusetts the information has
been collected but not published, excepting for the year
1888. The data so far as they have come to my notice,
are contained in the following three tables, all of which
show a mortality in excess of the registered births.
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro.- 35
VITAI, STATISTICS OF THE COLORED POPULATION OK RHODE ISLAND.
Period.
Births.
Deaths.
iS6r-70 . . .
1,131
1,153
Excess of Deaths 22
1S71-80 . . .
. 1,6.5
1.573
Births 42
i88r-90 . . .
1,954
1,860
Births 94
1891-93 • • •
558
690
" Deaths 132
1861-93 . . .
. 5,25s
5.276
" Deaths 18
VITAL STATISTICS OF THE COLORED POPULATION OF CONNECTICUT.
Period. Births. Deaths.
1881-S5 . . . . 1,340 1,391 Excess of Deaths 51
1S86-90 .... 1.374 1,554 " " 170
1891-93 .... 939 990 " " 51
1881-93 .... 3,653 3,925 " " 272
\aTAL STATISTICS OF THE COLORED POPULATION OF
MASSACHUSETTS, i8S8.
Births 511
Deaths 579
Excess of Deaths 68
The three tables support each other and leave no.
doubt as to the excessive mortality and low birth rate of
the colored population in the northern states. Possibly
the omission of births would be balanced by omissions
of deaths and proportionally the result would be the
same even under the most perfect registration system.
The low vitality of the colored race in the North did
not escape the notice of the officials in charge of the
registration records, and some of the editorial comments
may not be out of place here. Dr. Fisher, for many
years the registrar of vital statistics of Rhode Island,
refers to the subject in the second annual report of the
state board of health, as follows : " The circumstances
favorable to the promotion of the physical health of
the colored population are believed to be at least quite
as favorable and ample in Rhode Island as in any other
36 Amcricaii Ecojwmic Association.
northern or eastern state. When we find that in a period
of eighteen years the excess of births over deaths is
only 42, and having full knowledge of the fact that
the state is annually having accessions to the number of
colored people by immigration and these accessions
largely in the periods of life between twenty and forty
years, we must conclude, however reluctantly, that the
race is not self-sustaining in this latitude.'"
Dr. Snow, the eminent registrar of Providence arrived
at practically the same conclusion nearly twenty years
before the above was written, and makes use of the fol-
lowing language, which seems justified by the facts
quoted : " During the past four years, 1855-58 inclusive,
176 colored children have been born in this city, of
which 88 were males and 88 were females. During the
same period there have been 206 deaths of colored per-
sons, or 29 more deaths than births. The colored popu-
lation is evidently not self-sustaining in this city.""
Mr. Appolino, one time registrar of Boston, in his re-
port for 1862 concludes that, " in each of the aspects in
which the subject may be viewed the colored race seems,
so far as this city is concerned, to be doomed to extinc-
tion."^ During the period of seven years preceding
1862 there had been reported 304 births of colored chil-
dren in Boston and 500 deaths ; which facts fully justify
tlie conclusion of ]Mr. Appolino, than whom Boston never
had a more able and conscientious registrar.
These conclusions, based, not on chance observation
or opinion, but on registration data, are in contrast with
the view of those who have held that the negro could live
in the northern as well as in the southern states of the
^ Secoud Annual Report of the Rhode Island Board of Health,
i(i8So), p. 107.
^Annual report for 1S58, p. 3.
^ Annual report for 1S62, p. 7.
Race Traits and Tendoicics of the Avicrican Negro. 37
Union. One instance of the latter claim has been given,'
and I select out of many others the statement of the au-
thor of the " History of the Maroons." In relating the
transfer of the Maroons to Nova Scotia, he speaks of the
effect of the climate as follows : " It is proved, by experi-
ence, that the negro race can endure the severity of a
cold climate as well as white people, if equally clothed,"^
The writer did not state on what experience this observ'a-
tion was founded but goes on to say that the Maroons
were later on removed to the Coast of West Africa, much
to their own satisfaction.
The vitality of the negro may well be considered the
most important phase of the so-called race problem ;
for it is a fact which can and will be demonstrated by
indisputable evidence, that of all races for which sta-
tistics are obtainable, and which enter at all into the con-
sideration of economic problems as factors, the negro
shows the least power of resistance in the struggle for
life.
Most writers who have dealt with the subject from
this standpoint have referred to the excessive mortality
of the colored race. Most of the officials of the health
offices of southern cities have from time to time dis-
cussed the waste of life among these people. Some
have essayed to treat of the causes, and others of the
means of prevention ; but thus far no effectual remedy
has been suggested wdiich would even slightly improve
the present condition, a condition which, unchecked, must
lead eventually to extermination, at a rate far more rapid
than the recent census returns would indicate.
In the second annual report of the Atlanta board of
health, occurs the following reference to the excessive
colored mortality : " The disparity in the relative death
1 Page 25.
*R. C. Dallas, "History of the Maroons," (London, 1S03), Vol. 11,
p. 199.
38 American Eco7iomic AssociatioJi.
rates of the whites and negroes is striking and invariable.
The record in this city does not differ from that of other
cities. The fact is significant and full of melancholoy
interest, and unless the figures in the cities are reversed
by the statistics from the rural districts, the fate of the
race will not be difficult to read."
The second annual report of the National Board of
Health, edited by the foremost medical authorities of
the time, gives expression to the following opinion :
" These figures (vital statistics of Cuba), demonstrate
conclusively, as the statistics of all southern countries
have invariably done, that the old idea that the negro
surpassed the white in enduring tropical or southern
climates was false ; and that in truth the colored death
rate is habitually greater," ^
This concensus of opinion of northern and southern
authorities is fully supported by all the available data.
It is true that most of the collected statistics have refer-
ence only to the large cities ; but in view of the tenden-
cy of the colored population to migrate from the country
to the cities in ever increasing numbers, and at the age
period most favorable for a low general death rate, the
proof of an excessive mortality rate is of the greatest
economic and social significance. The following table
will show the comparative death rates of the white and
colored populations of ten southern cities for the period
1890-94. The rates are calculated on the basis of the
census of 1890 in accordance with the method of Dr.
Farr. The mortality figures have been obtained from
the annual reports of the health officers of the respect-
ive cities. The rates will differ from those calculated by
the city authorities, who make use of no uniform method
in calculating the increase in the population.
1 Annual report, National Board of Health, i8So, p. 224.
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. 39
COMPARATIVE DEATH RATES OF THE WHITE AND COLORED POPU-
LATIONS OF TEN SOUTHERN CITIES, 1890-1894
Washington,
Baltimore,
Md.
Richmond,
Va.
Memphis.
Tenn.
Louisville,
Ky.
White. Col'd.
White. Col'd.
White. Col'd. White. Col'd.
White. Col'd.
1890 . .
1891 . .
IS92 . .
1893 . .
1894 . .
1890-94
18.97 34.74
19-37 33-27
20.70 32-57
21.33 32-79
18.62 30.85
19.80 32.78
21.96 32.28
20.87 32.47
21-55 3t.55
18.58 30.33
17.81 30.47
20.01 31.39
22.31 37.86
20.75 34-17
18.26 33.14
18.16 32.05
15.20 25.46
19.03 32.45
17.84 24.58
17-73 25.33
15-56 31-86
12.35 29.96
11.84 29.84
14.84 22.12
27.64 28.79
16.84 37.02
17.S4 29.42
16.96 26.85
15-99 25.47
17.04 27.41
Atlanta, Ga. Savann'h, Ga.
Charleston,
S.C.
Mobile, Ala.
New Orleans,
La.
1890 . .
1891 , .
1892 . .
1893 • .
1894 . .
189(^94
1
18.92 32.2624.70 37.8621.36 42.2021.57 34.5125.96 40.73
18.64 31-3622.29 31.2523.00 43.6121.50 29.5624.65 37.18
16.44 29.35 21. S3 33.6224.25 41.3623.93 32.9626.16 41-59
15 21 28.9221.51 30.7922.02 39.81 20.91 32.6224.53 39.65
12.58 22.2718.16 28.6119.62 39.80| 19.59 28.6523.04 37.97
16.17 28.5921.43 32.2622.05 41.3421.44 31.6024.85 39.42
COMBINED MORTALITY RATE OF TEN CITIES, 1890-1894.
Death rate, White, 20.12
Death rate, Colored 32.61
It will be observed that the mortality among the
colored exceeds that of the whites in each of the ten
cities embraced in the above table, which inclndes most of
the principal cities of the Sonth. The difference in the
comparative mortality of the two races is greatest for
Charleston and least for Memphis, but the percentage of
excess is greatest for Charleston and least for Mobile.
In the former city the negro death rate is 87.5 per cent,
above that of the whites, and in the latter 47.4 per cent.
For the ten cities combined the mortality of the negroes
exceeds that of the whites by 12.49 P^^ 1,000 of popu-
lation or by 62.1 per cent.
The results of this comparison therefore support the
opinions of the authorities previously quoted, even in
40 American Economic Association.
the case of those sections of the south which have been
considered least favorable for the white population.
The comparative rates are based on an aggregate white
population of 5,371,355 with 108,045 deaths, and an ag-
gregate colored population of 2,085,679 with 68,012
deaths. The period of observation covered five years in
which the health of each race was normal and not dis-
turbed by epidemics.
The facts brought out in the above table relate to
about 416,000 of the total colored population. Even if
the negro mortality in the country districts were less
than that of the whites, which it is not, the fact that
so large a portion of the colored population is affected
by the high death rate named must prove an important
factor, economic as well as social and moral, in the
progress of the race. Whatever the causes may be to
which we must attribute this difference in the statistics
of the two races, they deserve to be fully investigated.
The foregoing table, giving only the gross death rates
of the two races, is fairly reliable for southern cities,
since the age distribution of the two races is nearly the
same in each of them. But to fully comprehend the
significance of the higher mortality of the colored popu-
lation it will be necessary to consider the mortality rate
for the different periods of life. In the large cities of
the North and West the age distribution of the colored
population is so radically different from that of the
white that a gross death rate is of no value and is even
misleading.
The age distribution of the two races in two southern
and two northern cities is given in the table below, which
has been calculated from the census.
Race Traits ayid Tendencies of the Ajuerican Negro. 41
COMPARATIVE AGE DISTRIBUTION OF THE WHITE AND COLORED
POPULATIONS OF FOUR CITIES.— (1890.)
Ages.
New York.
Brooklyn.
Charleston.
New Orleans.
i
Percentage.
Percentage. | Percentage.
Percentage.
White.
Col'd.
White.
Col'd.'White.
Col'd.
White.
Col'd.
Under 15 . .
28.9
192
30.8
24.4 3046
3».95
,32.52
32-06
15-20 . .
9.9
7.6
9.8
8.7 11085
98210.79
9.86
20-25 • •
II. 7
1,^0
10.9
12.6 10.47
II. 19 10.70
10.49
25-35 . .
20.2
27-3
18.9
22.2 115.74
16.84,16.33
15.06
35-45 . .
13-3
J8.8
12.6
16.4 I12.17
13-58 11-42
12.97
45-55 . .
8.8
9.0
9.0
8.9 9.42
8.17I 8.83
9-99
55-65 . .
4.6
31
50
4-2 1 6.33
3-S5: 5-60
5.25
Over
65
2.6
2.0
3
2.6 4.56
3.60 3 81
4.32
According to this table the proportion of negroes in the
northern cities is largest for the age periods in which the
mortality is least, that is from fifteen to forty-five 3'ears.
This excess of adults at middle age is due solely to the
constant influx of 3'oung people from the southern states.
The result is that the gross death rate for the colored
population is not so high as it would be if the age dis-
tribution were the same as that of the whites. In the
southern cities the differences, it will be observed, are
very slight and the gross death rates of those cities are
therefore more reliable than those of the large cities of
the North and West, which understate the facts. This
element of error is eliminated in the following tables
which .show for six cities the comparative death rates of
the two races at various periods of life. For the four
northern cities the death rates are given for eight periods
and for Baltimore and the District of Columbia for four.
It is very unfortunate that in the reports of Dr. Billings,
from which the tables have been compiled, a different
method should have been employed for the two groups
of cities, thus making an exact comparison impo.ssible.
42
American Economic Association.
DEATH RATES OF FOUR CITIES FOR 1890. CALCUI^TED FOR EIGHT
AGE GROUPS.!
New York.
Brooklyn.
Boston.
Philadelphia.
White. Col'd.
White.
Col'd.
White.
Col'd.
White. Col'd.
All Ages
28.47 37-47
25-41
34.9924.62
33-29
22.28 32.42
Under 15 . .
47.06 87.42
40.69
69.4540.20
78.40
34.89 69.24
15-20 . .
5-65 1432
5.42
12.54 7.27
9.69
6.17 13.61
20-25 . .
9.84 16.12' 8.60
15-95: 9-76
17.64
8.81 14.50
25-35 . •
14.15 19.2412.65
"-53 12.43
14.72
10.S5 15.21
35-45 . •
2o.9r 25.29 15.93
21.79 16.37
18.98
13.60 17.16
45-55 . .
2930 355623.03
34.0221.71
36.07
18.98 29.41
55-65 . .
48.45 79-0540.60
47-9336-45
51.55
31.56 40.09
65 and ov.
105.16 94.8696.09
i44-37|94-oi
1 13.51 88.88 116.49
Still-births included.
DEATH RATES OF BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON, D. C, FOR 1S90,
CALCULATED FOR FOUR AGE GROUPS.*
Baltimore, Md.
Washington, D. C.
Ages.
^\^lite.
Colored.
White.
Colored.
Under 5 years . .
. So. 27
171.78
65.04
159-93
Under 15 years . ,
. 30.71
64.24
23.90
57.00
15-45 years . .
. 8.99
14.88
929
17.09
45 years and over.
. 37.49
42.3t
33-88
47.60
! Still-births excluded.
It will be observed that the gross death rates for
the colored population exceed those of the white
and this too, in view of the fact just stated, that
the age distribution of the colored is far more favor-
able for a low general death rate than that of the
white population. Considering the mortality rates for
various age groups it will be noticed that for the earliest
period the difFerence is enormous. In New York for in-
stance the white population for the age group o — 15
shows a death rate of 47.06 per thousand while that of
the colored population for the same age period is 87.42
per thousand. The same disparity is to be observed in
all of the other cities to a greater or less degree, and it is
not until we reach the higher age periods that we find
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. 43
the mortality rates of the two races Hearing each other.
Even at the highest ages the white mortality rate rarely
approaches the colored. Only in one instance does it
rise above. Before considering the comparative differ-
ences in the mortality of the two races for the different
age periods, in the cities of the North, I wonld direct
the attention of the reader to the following tables for
three cities of the South, all of which may be considered
representative of the respective sections in which they are
located. The tables have been calculated by the writer
on advance statistics of the age distribution of the popu-
lation, kindly furnished him for this purpose by Mr.
Carroll D. Wright, the acting superintendent of the cen-
sus. The mortality returns have been obtained from
the board of health reports of the respective cities for the
year 1890. The age groups differ from those of the pre-
ceding table, giving the mortality for ten year periods
after the age of ten. But for the want of uniformity in the
mortality returns of southern cities it would have been
possible to give similar tables for other cities. However,
the cities furnishing reports for the above tables may
be assumed to represent fairly the prevailing condi-
tions in other cities of the south.
NBW ORLEANS— 1S90.
White.
Colored.
Rate per
Rate per
Ages.
Population.
Deaths.
1000.
Population.
Deaths
1000.
O-I . .
3,842
1,035
269.4
1,290
555
430.2
0-5 . .
19.134
1,428
74.6
6,787
805
I18.6
5-9 • .
19,466
98
5-0
7,145
70
9.8
10-19 . .
38,216
165
4-3
13,179
154
II. 7
20-29 • •
34,467
377
10.9
12,091
•277
22.9
30-39 • .
24,502
509
20.8
9,169
270
29.4
39-49 . .
17,551
475
27.1
7,337
256
34-9
49-59 •
I2,66t
534
42.2
4,642
244
52.6
59-69 . .
7,634
501
65.6
2,476
221
89-3
69-79 . .
2,879
354
123.0
1,065
176
165.3
44
Afnerican Economic Association.
CHARLESTON.-i
890.
White.
Colored.
Ages.
Population
Deaths.
Rate per
1000.
Population.
Deaths
Rate per
IOCX3.
O-I . .
494
99
200.4
758
350
461.7
0-5 . .
2,285
148
64.8
3.455
5'7
149 6
5-9 • •
10-19 • •
2,365
5,231
8
17
3-4
3-3
3.391
6,428
37
104
10 9
l6.2
20-29 . .
30-39 • •
40-49 • •
4.420
3.406
2,526
42
47
57
9-5
13.8
22.6
6,503
4,635
3,2oH
170
112
98
26.1
24.2
30.6
50-59 •
60-69 . .
70-79 . .
1,859
1,184
440
47
69
47
253
58.3
106.8
1.674
1,031
407
72
79
66
430
766
162.2
RICHMOND.— 1890.
O-I . . . I,!02
206
1869
625
331
529.6
0-5
4.942
3^2
67.2
2,772
496
178.9
5-9
4,871
40
8.2
3.063
57
18.6
10-19
10,420
58
5-6
7,134
78
109
20-29
9.S59
1 13
II-5
7.387
'34
iS.i
30-39
7.053
98
13-9
4,634
99
21.4
40-49
5,030
92
18.3
3,488
92
26.4
50-59
3-539
100
28.3
1.853
92
49-7
60-69
2.119
101
47-7
1,021
75
73-5
70-79
834
104
124.7
380
46
121. 1
COJIPARATXVE DEATH RATES FOR THREE SOUTHERN CITIES.
DEATHS PER 1000 UVING AT SAME AGE. (1890.)
New Orleans.
Charleston.
Richmond.
Ages. White. Colored.
White. Colored.
White.
Colored
O-I ... 269.4 430.2
200.4 461.7
186.9
5298
0-5
74.6 118. 6
64.8 149.6
67.2
1789
5-9
5.0 9.8
3.4 10.9
8.2
18.6
10-19
4-3 i'-7
3-3 '6.2
5-6
10.9
20-29
109 22.9
9.5 26.1
II-5
iS.l
30-39
20.8 29.4
I3.S 24 2
139
2T.4
40-49
27.1 34.9
22.6 30.6
18.3
26.4
50-59
42.2 52.6
25-3 43-0
28.3
49 7
60-69
65.6 S9.3
58.3 76.6
47-7
73-5
70-79
123.0 165.3
106.S 162.2
1247
121. 1
I have given all the data from which the rates were
calculated, in order to enable the reader to form his own
opinion as to the value of the results. The three tables
fully support the previous conclusions for northern cities
and show that the greatest excess of mortality amongst
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. 45
the colored falls on the early age groups. The excess
at the very early ages, /. <?., from birth to the end of the
first year and to the end of the fifth year is, however,
not as great proportionately as the excess at the age
periods immediately following ; but the actual excess,
the greatest waste of life, falls on the earliest age
group. The economic importance of this fact can-
not be overestimated. An excessive infant mortality,
such as we meet with among the white population in
all parts of the country, has at all times been the con-
cern of the philanthropist and economist, but nowhere
else do we meet with such a frightful infant mortality
as we find prevailing among the colored population of
the large cities, both North and South. In one city,
Richmond, over half of the negro children die under
one year, a mortality so great that no greater fecundity
could balance the loss. The increase of the population
which we observe in all cities of the South and North,
must therefore be largely due to migration from the coun-
try. In the cities of the South there is less difference in
the death rates of the two races as the higher age groups
are reached, but in only one case is there a difference in
favor of the colored race. These differences are brought
out in the tables which follow, in which the percentage
of excess of the negro mortality over the white is shown
for three age periods, first for Washington and Balti-
more, second for the three southern cities, to which is
added a comparative table for four northern cities.
COMPARATIVE MORTALITY OF WHITES AND NEGROES* IN BALTI-
MORE AND WASHINGTON, 1890.
Baltimore.
Ages. White. Col'd.
Col'd over
White.
Per cent.
Washington.
White. Col'd.
Col'd over
White.
Per cent.
oto 15 . . . 30.71
64.24
109.2
23.90
57.00
138.5
i5to45 . • • 8.99
14.88
65.5
9.29
17.09
84.0
45 and over. . 37.49
42.43
13.2
33-88
47.60
40.5
1 Vital Statistics of Washington and Baltimore,
4
1890, p. 6.
46 Afncrica7i Economic Association.
COMPARATIVE MORTALITY OF NEGROES AND WHITES.
Four
North'n Cities.>
South-
White.
Four
n Cities.!
Colored.
Excess of
Negro Jlortality.
O-I .
0-5 •
230.92
72.74
240-57
72.17
467.67
144.38
94.4 per
100. 1
cent.
5-IO.
I0-20 .
7-50
5-45
551
4.58
12.58
12.11
128.3
164.4
20-30 .
30-40 .
9-37
13.60
10.95
18.76
21.58
25.11
97.8
33-9
40-50.
50-60 .
60-70 .
19.49
26.57
56. SS
24.88
37.71
61.70
.32.32
47.64
78.18
29.9
26.3
26.7
Boston, St. Louis, New Haven and Cincinnati.
Savanah, New Orleans, Charleston and Richmond.
The percentage of excess in negro mortality is here
shown to be highest for the period of life under fifteen,
next highest from fifteen to forty-five and lowest for the
age periods over forty-five. There are slight deviations
from this rule but none which materially affect the
conclusion that the young generation of the colored
population shows the highest, and the oldest generation
the lowest, percentage of mortality above that of the
white race.
It may be of value to show briefly the influence of sex
on this excessive mortality. I have abstracted, in part,
from the reports of Dr. Billings, the comparative mortal-
ity of the two sexes for three cities for eight age groups.
I have selected the three northern cities w^here females
largely predominate and the increase in the population
is largely due to migration from the country. The
tables are deserving of consideration as showing the
effects of city life on the colored population of middle
age.
Race Traits and Te7idenncs of the Ayncrican Negro. 47
COMPARATIVE MORTALITY OF WHITE AND COLORED ACCORDING
TO AGE AND SEX.— 1890.
NEW YORK.
Male.
.
Females.
White.
Colored.
White.
Colored.
All ages . .
31-15
42.06
25.87
33-OI
Under 15 .
51.15
96.76
42.97
78.23
15-20 .
6.25
18.82
5.13
10.86
20-25 .
11.47
21.17
8.52
11.47
25-35 .
1554
21.40
12.71
17.02
35-45 .
2330
29.69
18.32
20.45
45-55 .
31.86
40.68
26.60
30.20
55-65 .
53-88
98.16
43.41
65.82
65 and o^
rer,
107.99
87.72
102.84
98.51
BOSTON.
All Ages. .
25.96
31.56
23.37
35.32
Under 15
43.18
75.22
37-18
81.40
15-20
7.22
9-58
7.31
9.80
20-25
10.88
15-76
8.79
19.76
25-35
12.85
15.51
12.03
13.60
35-45
17.54
2397
15.15
12.59
45-55
23-39
31.39
19.94
41.90
55-65
38.02
52.98
35.12
50.00
65 and o\
er,
97.19
129.03
91.72
105.69
PHILADELPHIA.
All ages. . .
23-85
36.02
20.79
29.23
Under 15
37.22
75.81
32-51
63.12
15-20
6.49
15.01
5-89
12.66
20-25
10.12
19.75
7-64
10.46
25-35 .
11.28
14.12
10.43
16.24
35-45 .
15.30
20.52
II. 91
13.55
45-55 .
20.85
33.67
17.20
25.48
55-65 . .
36.44
47.70
27.42
34.57
65 and ov
er,
93.51
155-26
85.35
96.47
PERCENTAG
E OF COLORED MORTALITY OVER WHITE, ACCORDING
TO AGE AND SEX
Males.
Females
New
Philadel-
New
Philadel-
Ages.
York. Boston,
phia.
York.
Boston.
phia.
Per
Ct. Per Ct.
Per Ct.
Per Ct.
Per Ct.
Per Ct.
All ages . .
• 35
21.6
51.0
27.6
5I.I
40.6
Under 15
. 89
2 81.6
103.7
58.8
I16.2
94.2
15-20
. 201
32.7
131-3
III.7
20.4
I14.9
20-25
. 84.6 44-9
95-2
34-6
124.8
36.9
25-35
. 38.4 20.7
25.2
33-9
13. 1
55.7
35-45
. 27.4 36.7
34-1
11.6
13.8
45-55
. 27.7 63.4
61.5
13-5
109.6
48.1
55-65
. 82
2 20.5
30.1
5J.6
42.4
18.8
65 and o^
rer, *
32.8
66.0
4.2
13-0
■ White mortality in excess of colored.
48 Aincrica7i Economic Association.
The excess in the negro mortality rate varies consid-
erably for some age groups, which is due, in part, to the
small numbers on which the ratios are based. How-
ever, for the age periods under 25, the excess of mor-
tality is greater for males than for females and almost
without exception the numerical mortality for colored
males is in excess of that of the females at all periods
of life. The most important exception is to be observed
in Boston where the mortality of females under 25 is in
excess of the male mortality. In New York and Phila-
delphia the females with slight and unimportant excep-
tions have a lower mortality rate than the males, irre-
spective of race and age. In Boston white females at
all ages, excepting fifteen to twenty have a more fav-
orable mortality rate than males, while colored females
have a lower mortality only after the age twenty-five.
This favorable rate for females is due in part to the
greater liability of the male to accidental death, more
frequent exposure to the inclemency of the weather, and
last, not least, to his more pronounced criminal ten-
dencies. Females also are usually employed as domestic
servants and in consequence are better cared for in every
respect than the colored male, who only too often leads
the life of a vagrant and roust-about in search of some-
thing to do, honest or otherwise.
The effect of conjugal condition on the mortality rate
is fairly well brought out in a table for Washington and
Baltimore abstracted from the report of Dr. Billings.
The respective death rates are given for two age periods
and afford an interesting comparison. It must be taken
into consideration, however, that the conjugal condition
of the colored population is not so clearly defined as it is
for the white raze. This is easily understood when I
mention the fact that over 25 per cent, of the colored
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. 49
children born in Washington are reported as illegitimate,
as compared with less than 3 per cent, for the whites.
It is probable, however, that all those who had borne
children were ennmerated as married, or at least those
who were living under the conditions of married life.
DEATH RATES OF THE WHITE AND COLORED POPULATIONS
ACCORDING TO CONJUGAL CONDITION.
MALES-AGES 15-45.
FEMALES-AGES 15-45.
Washington. Baltimore.
White. Col'd. White. Col'd.
Single . . . 10.47 18.58 9.19 13.75
Married . . 9.06 16.67 S.9S 13.49
Widowed.. 40.17 50.51 26.95 30.93
Washington. Baltimore.
White. Col'd. White, Col'd.
6.44 14.50 6.53 13.20
9.56 16.72 9.76 16.31
13.65 15.12 12.02 14.36
MALE.S-45 AND OVER.
FEMALES— 45 AND OVER.
Single . . . 48. 23 69.33 35-70 6o.8i
Married . . 29.94 40.75 31.22 39.60
Widowed . . 80 12 99.42 74.59 83.48
26.04 37-6t 37.79 46.05
1805 28.50 24.13 24.77
42.00 56.37 54.85 46.01
It remains for me to add to the present series of tables
two which have some bearing on the condition of life of
the colored population in our large cities, namely those
showing altitude and density of population. It is a fav-
orite argument with some authors who have written upon
the causes of the excessive mortality of the colored race,
that the low social and economic conditions of the.se peo-
ple, as well as the general unsanitary condition of their
dwellings, are largely responsible for their higher mor-
tality. In a word, they attribute to the environment
most of the ills that at present affect so seriously the
duration of life for the colored race. These writers argue
that, given the same social, economic and sanitary con-
ditions of life, the colored race would enjoy the same
health and favorable death rate as the white population.
The powerful influences of a bad heredity are almost
wholly ignored and the greatest stress is laid upon the
effect of the environment. I therefore call attention to
50
Americayi Economic Association.
the tables below, which, so far as I am aware, present cer-
tain facts not hitherto published. It is true that the Sur-
geon-General of the Army,' as well as Dr. Cunningham of
the Alabama Penitentiary,^ have called attention to the
fact that even under the same conditions, subject to the
same regulations, fed and clothed in the same manner as
the white man, doing the same class of work, the negro is
still subject to a higher death rate ; but the statements*
of these two high authorities have never been duly con-
sidered by those who believe so firmly in the all power-
ful effect of the ' milieux.'
DEATH RATES OF THE WHITE AND COLORED POPULATION AT ALL
AGES AND UNDER 5 YEARS FOR TWO CITIES, ACCORDING
TO ALTITUDE."
Washiugon.
Washingon.
Average
Altitude
All Ages.
(In feet.)
White.
Uuder 25 21.26
25- 50
50- 75
75-IOO
Over 100
19-83
17.24
15-67
17.24
Col'd.
37-48
37.06
31-87
32.56
31-23
All Ages.
Under 5 yrs.'
Under 5 yrs.'
White.
23-63
21.84
21.64
18.31
17.16
Col'd.
44-65
36-51
34-34
28.03
28.21
White.
78.85
I 71-41
57.59
5230
' 57.87
Col'd.
White.
167.69 86.92
155.21 76.96
159-57 78.78
157-^*^9 66.16
136. II 58. 70
Col'd.
203.30
194-03
155-68
1 48. .^9
145-53
1 Exclusive of still births.
DEATH RATES OF THE WHITE AND COLORED POPULATION OF TWO
CITIES, ACCORDING TO DENSITY OF POPULATION.
Persous to the Acre.
Washington.
All Ages.
White. Colored.
Under 25 18.51 35.46
25-50 18.54 31-19
50 aud over 17.78 34-72
Baltimore.
Uuder 50 22.73 39-13
50-100 18.34 27.74
Over 100 21.58 36.98
1 Exclusive of still births.
Under
5 years.i
White.
Colored.
60.94
161.77
66.31
148.49
64-34
163.98
80.11
196.40
66.91
14934
77-S7
171.65
^ Johu Moore, Aunual report, Surgeon-General of the Army, 1889,
p. 18.
'^ Medical News, Feb. 3, 1894.
Race Traits a?id Tendencies of the America?i Negro. 51
The above two tables are of great value as evidence
that environment has less effect on the duration of life
than have the factors of race and heredity. It will be ob-
served that even under the most favorable conditions as
indicated by a high altitude and low density of popula-
tion, the excessive negro mortality rate remains compara-
tively the same. The per cent, of excess in the rate for
the population living under the most unfavorable condi-
tions as indicated by the degree of altitude, is 76.29 for
Washington and 88.95 for Baltimore, while for the popu-
lation under the most favgrable conditions the excess is
81.15 per cent, for the former and 64.39 per cent, for the
latter city. The evil effect of a low altitude is too well
known to need more than a reference to it, and the im-
portance of these remarkable facts will be fully under-
stood by those familiar with the influence of soil moisture
on mortality. I give similar information for the age
group under five, and also with respect to the effect of
density of population, to assist those who wish to trace
more fully the effect of environment on the mortality of
the colored race. It may be of interest here to give the
comparative distribution of the white and colored popu-
lations of Washington and Baltimore according to alti-
tude. It will be seen that in the two cities the negroes
live in larger proportion in the most favored localities
so far as indicated by a higher altitude. Hence the gross
death rate of the colored race is only slightly if at all
affected by either altitude or density, both of wdiich are
factors of the highest importance in the duration of life
in the white race. The conditions of life therefore, so
far as these two factors are concerned, would seem to be
of less importance than race and heredity.
52 American Economic Association.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE WHITE AND COLORED POPULATIONS OF TWO
CITIES ACCORDING TO ALTITUDE.— (Percentage of total population.)
Baltimore,
, Md.
Washington
, D. C.
1890.
1890.
Average
White.
Colored.
White.
Colored.
Altitude in feat.
Per Cent.
Per Cent.
PerCe.it.
Per Cent.
Under 25 ... .
18.01
12.53
- 14-53
19.62
25-50. . .
25-58
19.01
25 62
15-14
50-75 • • •
14-59
12.77
38. 55
40. 86
75-100. . .
20.25
1S.72
1494
17-79
100 and over
21.57
36.97
6.36
6.59
The natural question in \'iew of this proof of an ex-
cessive mortality of the colored race, an excess met with
under all the varying conditions, locality, age, sex, con-
jugal condition, altitude and density of population, is,
whether the unusual mortality has always existed or is
of recent origin, i. e.^ whether the excessive mortality is
a result of new conditions of life or is a fundamental
race trait. It will always be difficult to an-swer this
question satisfactorily, since the mortality statistics
for the early part of the present century are wanting in
details, without which it is difficult to arrive at a satis-
factory conclusion. The higher rate of increase of the
colored population during the period preceding the war
would indicate that during slavery the mortality was
not so high, at least not in the United States, as it has
been since emancipation, while the gradual lowering of
the decennial rate of increase would indicate that a pro-
cess of deterioration has been going on ever since 18 10,
but less intense before emancipation than during the
past thirty years.
So far as I have been able to ascertain, the only fairly
complete record of white and negro mortality for a con-
siderable length of time has been kept in the city of
Charleston, for which city we are fortunate enough to
have an almost unbroken record from the year 1822.
Through the kindness of Dr. H. B. Horlbeck, the health
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. 53
officer of Charleston, I have been able to obtain a state-
ment of the comparative mortality of the two races from
1822 to 1894, excepting the war period, when no data of
value were collected. To Dr. Gordon de Sassure of the
same city I am indebted for a copy of the census of
Charleston for 1848, which is a document of great sta-
tistical and historical value. I am therefore able to in-
clude in the table which follows, some statistics which
have seldom been used, and which I trust will be of
value to those who are interested in the course of the
mortality of the two races. I have also obtained from
Dr. T. S. Scales, former health officer of Mobile, a partial
statement of the white and colored mortality of that city
for the period 1843-55, with some years missing. For
Savannah I have compiled the mortality returns for the
period preceding the war, from the very valuable essay of
Dr. Eugene Corson on the " Vital Equation of the Col-
ored Race." For all recent years I have made use of the
official board of health reports for the various cities. The
death rates are based on the population estimated in ac-
cordance with Dr. Farr's method for intercensal years,
thus insuring uniformity and freedom from the indi-
vidual guess work. It is of course unfortunate that the
periods under observation are not always the same, but
this is unavoidable in view of the dearth of data.
COMPARATIVE MORTALITY OF SOUTHERN CITIE.S FOR VARIOUS
PERIODS OF TIME.
Mobile, Ala.
Charleston, S. C.
Periods.
White.
Colored.
Periods.
White.
Colored.
1S43-46
1847-50
1852-55
1876-80
I SB 1-85
18S6-90
1891-94
45-S3
42.53
54.39
24.64
26.14
23-92
21.40
23.10
31-19
34-70
39-74
36.26
35-11
30.91
1822-30
1831-40
1851-60
1866-75
1876-85
1886-94
32-73
2524
16.17
29.79
25-56
24.32
22.26
28.16
25.02
19.77
34-12
44-06
54
American Econoyyiic Association.
COM PAR.
VTIVE MORI
rAUTY OF SOUTHERN CI
riES FOR VARIOUS
PERIODS OF TIME.
Savannah, Ga.
New Orleans, La.
Periods.
White.
Colored.
Periods.
White.
Colored.
1856-60
37.19
34.07
1849-60
596
52.1
1861-65
50.19
49-65
1871-73
28.63
44.61
1866-70
33-16
57.26
'875-79
31-25
40.22
1871-75
32.70
44.82
1S80-84
25.01
52.33
I.S76-80
38.60
51.66
1S85-89
2381
35-22
1881-85
27.02
41.67 1890-94
24.85
3942
1886-90
22.52
37.26 \
1891-94
21.43
32 26 '
The table before us presents with a fair degree of ac-
curacy the course of the death rates for both races for
long periods of time. While the point to be brought
out by this table is not as clear as would be desirable, it
is shown that for the white population there has been a
considerable and fairly constant fall in the death rate ;
while for the colored population the mortality at the
present time would seem to be higher as a rule than it
was forty or fifty years ago. For Charleston the records
are the most complete and therefore the most satisfactory
from a statistical standpoint, and they show clearly the
unfavorable change in the mortality rate of the colored
race.
If we combine the periods under observation so that
one period is formed by the years before the war and the
other for the period of freedom, we have a more compact
body of data in which the possibility of accidental varia-
tion is eliminated. By this method the death rate of the
white population of Charleston is shown to have been
25.60 before the war and 24.04 for the period 1866-94,
giving a decrease m the white mortality of 1.56 per
1,000. The mortality rate of the colored population
during the same period increased from 26.45 during
1822-60 to 43.33 during 1S66-94, or 16.88 per 1,000,
Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro. 55
In Mobile the mortality rate of the whites decreased
from 48.26 during the period 1843-55 ^^ 24.13 for the
period 1876-94 while in the same interim the negro
mortality rate increased from 30.31 to 35.60 per 1,000,
For these two cities therefore the conclusion is war-
ranted that the negro mortality has largely increased
since emancipation, and that too in the localities con-
sidered most favorable for the race. What is here shown
to be true for two cities, each of which represents dif-
ferent conditions of life, economic as well as climatic
and sanitary, we may assume to hold fairly true for other
sections of the south. The proverbial longevity of the
negro has probably never existed as a matter of fact, but
we have an abundance of testimony, unfortunately little
of it statistical, that previous to emancipation the negro
enjoyed health equal if not superior to that of the white
race. Consequently the proved tendency towards a
higher death rate must be considered an evidence of race
deterioration, which in part will explain the gradual
lowering of the rate of increase of the colored popula-
tion, brought out more distinctly than ever by the cen-
sus of 1890.
The above facts, however, are insufficient for a deter-
mination of the importance that should be attached to
the increasing mortality rate of the colored race. This
is brought out by comparing the death rates at various
ages and periods of life.
The first table has been comj^iled in part from the
valuable report of De Saussure on the census of Charles-
ton in 1848,' and in part from a table of Charleston death
rates previously given. At the same time the per cent,
of excess in the negro mortality rate over the white, or
'Census of the city of Charleston for the year 184S, by J. L. Daw-
sou, M.D. and H. W. De Saussure, M.D. Charleston, S. C, 1849.
56 Avierican Economic Association.
vice versa^ is shown in a separate column. The rates
have been calculated in conformity with others of the same
kind, namely, on the living population for the same ages.
COMPARATIVE MORTALITY FOR CHARLESTON, S. C, 1S48 AND 1S90.
(Deaths per 1,000 living at same ages.)
Excess of Col'd
1
[848.
1890
motality over
White.
White.
Col'd.
White.
Col'd.
1S4S.
Per ct.
1S90.
Per ct.
Under 5 . .
. . 3I-I
75-0
64.S
149-6
141. 1
130.9
5-10 . .
. . 58
3-9
3-4
10 9
'
220.6
10-20 . .
. . 30
II. I
32
16.2
261.3
406.3
20-30 . .
. . II. 2
12.3
9-5
26.1
9.8
174.7
30-40 . .
. . 16. 1
15-3
13.S
24.2
'
75-4
40-50 . .
. . 21. 8
21.9
22.6
30.5
0.5
350
50-60 . .
. . 28.4
28.3
25-3
43-0
1
70.0
60-70 . .
• • 47-5
58.8
58.3
766
23-8
31-4
70-80 . .
• • 97-3
106.3
106.8
162.2
9.2
51-9
1 white mortality in exces.s of colored.
This table is most interesting and valuable from an
economic or other scientific standpoint. We can here
trace the rate of the mortality through the various
stages of life and compare the tw^o races at two radically
different periods, the one under slavery, the otlier under
freedom. During the former, according to this table,
the mortality of the colored exceeded that of the white
population for the age period 0-5 by 141 per cent., and
in 1890 by 131 per cent. For the second age group the
negro mortality rate for 1890 was 221 per cent, higher
than that of the whites, in contrast with a former
excess in the mortality of the whites for this age
group. For the two next higher age groups the rate
is almost double at the present time what it was
before emancipation, and for the next three groups
a former mortality rate favorable to the colored
race has been changed into one largely unfavorable.
At the most advanced aees the numbers are rather small
Race Traits and Teiidcncics of the American Negro. 57
and the excess of negro mortality at these periods is
difficult to define.
As general inferences to be drawn from the table before
us it may be safely concluded that the negro mortality
rate has increased for all periods of life ; that the ex-
cess of negro mortality over that of the whites previous
to emancipation existed to a considerable degree for
only two age periods below the age sixty, but that at
the present time it is to be observed at all ages. At the
present time the excess is greatest for the first genera-
tion, and least for the third — if we divide the whole of
life into three periods as has been done heretofore. It
would seem therefore, thafthe young generation is the
one least fit for race survival, and the consequent loss of
social effectiveness, as Mr. Kidd calls it, is enormous.
The great difference in the expectation of life for the
two races is brought out with scientific accuracy in the
following life table, abstracted from the census of 1880.
No official life tables have been compiled since that
year.
COMPARATIVE EXPECTATION OP LIFE FOR WHITE AND CGI
ORED
PERSONS IN FOUR SOUTHERN CITIES IN 1880.1
Iwashingt'n, D.C.i Baltimore, Md. Charleston, S. C.
New Orleans, La.
AGES.
1880.
1880. ! iSSo.
iSSo.
Whites. Col'd.
Whites.
Col'd.
Whites.
Col'd.
Whites.
Col'd.
Years. Years.
Years.
Years.
Years.
Years.
Years.
Years.
. . .
42.36 25.25
38.18
23.26
38.34
21.82
38.10
25-56
5 •
51.85 44.48
51-72
44-32
48.10
40.68
47.88
40.76
10 .
48.71 42.13
49.66
42.40
44.24
37-96
44-16
37-50
20 .
40.42 35-34
41.50
36.62
36.24
31.60
35-80
3063
30-
33.64 30.22
34-74
30.64
30.08
27-14
29-35
26.98
40.
27.36 24.63
28.05
24.68
24.60
21.51
23.78
22.49
50.
21.06 18.90
21.27
18.92
18.80
15-72
18.62
17.78
60.
15.01 13.70
15-01
13-42
13-14
11.04
13-58
13.22
70.
9.98 9- '9
10.24
8.87
8.81
7.90
9-43
898
80.
6.70 6.37
7.14
6.38
6.59
5-94
6.73
6.46
' Census of 1880, Vol XII, pages 773-783-
This table shows the expectation of life at ten selected
ages for both races, in representative southern cities,
bringing out in a forcible way the difference in the
58 American Econoytiic Association.
vitality of the two races. In the District of Columbia
a white person at the age of thirty for instance would
have