Counting question 20 on the 1870 census, the denial of the right to vote: Different tallies by the Census Office; the Minnesota Population Center; and Ancestry.com

Abstract

Question 20 on the 1870 US Census asked respondents if they had been denied the right to vote. The Census Office told Congress in 1871 that 40,800 men answered yes to the question. The Minnesota Population Center (MPC) one percent sample of the 1870 entries projected 29,900 affirmative answers. By contrast, Ancestry.com counted more than 125,000 ‘yes’ answers. The three tallies stem from different assumptions about how to enter data from the manuscript pages. Researchers using the MPC 1% sample and the Ancestry.com full count sample should be aware of the different assumptions about how to enter data. The differences also indicate a need for a fourth count that captures the complexity of the asking and answering of question 20.