------------ EH.NET BOOK REVIEW --------------  
Published by EH.NET (July 2006)  
  
Susan B. Carter, Scott Sigmund Gartner, Michael R. Haines, Alan L.   
Olmstead, Richard Sutch, and Gavin Wright, editors, _Historical   
Statistics of the United States, Volume One: Population_. New York:   
Cambridge University Press, 2006. xxviii + 807 pp. $825 (for the   
five-volume set), ISBN: 0-521-85389-3.  
  
Reviewed for EH.NET by Trevon D. Logan, Department of Economics, Ohio   
State University.  
  
  
When I was in graduate school, Ken Wachter once said that you could   
define the size of the demographic profession by counting everyone   
who had a Coale-Demeny life table in their office. If that is true,   
counting those with a copy of the _Historical Statistics of the   
United States_ in their office could define the group of quantitative   
American historians in years past. It has been more than twenty-five   
years since a version was published, and there is one question that   
everyone seems to have about the new millennial edition: Was it worth   
the wait? This question is not merely a straw man. In the years since   
the bicentennial edition of _Historical Statistics_, the size and   
(more importantly) the quality of historical data have improved many   
times over. Even more, contemporary quantitative historians now have   
the ability, more so than in the past, to answer microeconomic   
questions with individual level historical data. The question "was it   
worth the wait?" speaks not only to the quality of the newest   
edition, but also its relevance to contemporary quantitative   
historical scholarship. As this review will show, however, the answer   
for this volume is an unequivocal, enthusiastic "yes." Since no   
review of such a large work can hope to completely convey its   
contents, below I will sketch out the volume by chapter and follow   
with a general assessment of the work as a whole.  
  
The introduction to the volume begins with basic definitions of   
population and methods for measuring and accounting for the growth of   
the population. It also covers broad changes in American demography   
from 1790 to the present as a means of foreshadowing the chapters   
that follow. The introduction then moves to a rather detailed   
discussion of race and ethnicity, moving from definitions and   
historical change in the concepts to the differences in demographic   
measures by racial and ethnic categories and a discussion of gender.   
This seems to be somewhat misplaced, but there is no other chapter in   
the volume where it will fit -- the volume does not include separate   
chapters for race and gender, but rather integrates them into other   
features of the population. While I agree with this integrated   
approach, the discussion of race and gender is well integrated enough   
into the successive chapters that the discussion in the introduction   
is somewhat unnecessary. Overall, the introduction highlights the   
scope and size of the project, and also details the contents that   
follow.  
  
The first chapter, on population characteristics, begins with a   
caveat about the reliability of Census counts of the population. It   
then moves to an excellent overview of the topics covered by the   
Census over time (such as education, urbanity, and household   
structure). One feature to highlight is the fact that population   
estimates for years between the decennial Census from 1790 to 1900   
now use the method of change approach, and not linear interpolation.   
After detailing regional differences in population growth, the   
chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the Hispanic ethnicity   
designation. The tables that follow form the majority of the volume,   
and will most likely be the most utilized information in the volume.   
The tables include population size, density, marital status, rural   
and urban location by age, sex and race and summaries of the   
foreign-born population. The tables also contain state-by-state   
counts of age structure by sex and race, population density, and the   
foreign born. These tables form a treasure trove for those looking   
for summary population measures both aggregated and disaggregated (by   
state) over time.  
  
The second chapter (which, like the first, is written by Michael   
Haines of Colgate University) deals with vital statistics of   
fertility, mortality, and nuptiality�. It is related to the first in   
that it gives the demographic information while the first chapter   
largely deals with population counts. The chapter begins by   
discussing how the American demographic transition was distinct from   
the transitions of Europe in that fertility declines in the United   
States predated mortality declines. Moving beyond description, there   
is a discussion of some of the theories of America's unique fertility   
regime such as Sundstrom and David's, Ransom and Sutch's and the land   
availability hypotheses. Next, the chapter records how Census records   
can be used to construct some measures of fertility (such as children   
per woman), but that they are not as useful for tracking mortality.   
This leads to a discussion of estimates of mortality in the past, the   
general trend of declining American mortality since the end of the   
nineteenth century, and the development of the system of vital   
registrations -- which allows for better estimates of mortality and   
for estimates of cause of death. Haines is very good at pointing out   
what we can and cannot say about fertility and mortality in the past,   
and his honest discussion serves as a warning to those who would wish   
to view the data that follow as gospel. The tables in this chapter   
include fertility, marriage, divorce, birth rates, and death rates by   
race; fertility ratios; and life expectancy by race and sex. There is   
an extensive collection of tables relating to infant mortality   
(including neonatal mortality, maternal mortality, and the fetal   
death rate by race). This is followed by cause of death tables, which   
highlight the conquest of mortality due to infectious disease in the   
twentieth century. The size and quality of the information on   
mortality are especially noteworthy given the caveat in the   
introductory note. Of special interest to demographers, the tables   
also include information on cohort survival (lx) necessary to   
construct life tables by race and sex over time.  
  
Chapters 3 and 4 detail migration, both internal (chapter 3) and   
external (chapter 4). Joseph Ferrie of Northwestern University begins   
chapter 3 by noting that movements in internal population are an   
important aspect of American history. While the calculation of   
internal migration is straightforward theoretically, there are a   
number of data problems that complicate its empirical measurement. As   
such, the chapter is the most focused on data and methodology in the   
volume, but is also careful to highlight general trends. The tables   
that follow include migration by type and also changes in farm   
population over time. Our inability to measure internal migration   
accurately in the past does limit the interpretation of the data   
Ferrie provides. Chapter 4, by Bob Barde of UC-Berkeley and Susan   
Carter and Richard Sutch of UC-Riverside, starts with a technical   
definition of immigration and then moves to a discussion of the   
unique features of American immigration (the number immigrants, the   
number of nations involved, the lack of an American Diaspora). The   
chapter then details the American immigration experience, breaking   
the historical experience into three periods (1815-1920, 1920-1965,   
and 1965-present) which coincides with changes in immigration policy.   
It also covers the related (but distinct) topic of naturalization. As   
a reading, this chapter is a great introduction to both the history   
and politics of immigration in the United States. The tables that   
follow give immigration and emigration by country of departure;   
immigration by sex, race and age; admission numbers and demographics   
by immigration regime; and counts of persons naturalized.  
  
The chapter on family and household composition, by Steven Ruggles of   
the University of Minnesota, is next. He begins by noting that   
previous editions of _Historical Statistics_ did not contain any   
information about changes in families and households. He then details   
the problems of trying to look at trends over time as definitions of   
households and family have changed not only in the social psychology   
but also by government reporting standards. He also highlights some   
broad changes in household structure such as the decline in   
multigenerational households and the rise of single-parent,   
cohabiting, and single-person household. The ensuing tables give   
counts of households by race and sex of the household head;   
subfamilies; institution type; marital status of mothers with   
children by race; and the living arrangements of those aged 65 and   
over. Susan Carter's chapter on cohort analysis is important to the   
extent that the previous chapters in the volume are period   
demographic measures� -- that is, they are counts of persons and   
demographic phenomena at a point in time and therefore apply only to   
an imagined (synthetic) cohort. Cohort analysis is important since   
events experienced by cohorts can influence their lives and because   
period trends may not hold when subjected to cohort analysis, leading   
us to modify our interpretation of events and their consequences.   
Carter highlights these two facts in her chapter, and follows it with   
tables that show labor force participation, marriage, and education   
by age and sex by birth cohort.  
  
The final chapter, by C. Matthew Snipp of Stanford University, is   
concerned with the demography of Native Americans. Snipp begins with   
coverage of the unique history that Native Americans have had in the   
United States, and also with the puzzle that, despite numerous   
documented interactions between the United States government and   
various tribes since colonial times, there is relatively little   
evidence about Native American demography. Snipp then lists the   
sources of information, taking great care to highlight the inherent   
caveats when dealing with the topic. The tables that follow are a   
unique resource, detailing the number of tribes; their size and   
populations by state; the demography of reservations, terminations of   
tribes; and the employment, occupations, and education of Native   
Americans.  
  
In total, this volume of _Historical Statistics_ is a triumph. The   
chapters provide first-rate introductions to their general area of   
focus, particularly helpful for researchers and students who are not   
specialists in either history or demography. Each chapter reading is   
informative without being burdensome. The voluminous tables are   
carefully documented and legible, and are disaggregated enough that   
one may look at interesting features by themselves. While researchers   
now seem to favor micro-based population research, this volume   
impresses upon me the importance of looking in the aggregate at   
underlying demographic trends. Demography is truly unique in that the   
individual measure directly relates to the population measure. As   
such, this volume complements the contemporary research agenda in   
quantitative history quite nicely by providing a background to core   
demographic measures. It is also quite useful for those whose   
research falls outside of these areas but who need measures for   
certain demographic phenomena at a point (and place) in time. The   
availability of the underlying data in electronic format gives a nod   
to the fact that the editors understand that the information in these   
volumes will form the backbone and background of many research   
projects. Given its numerous sources and size, this volume is a   
testament to the value of large-scale historical projects and also   
the value of interdisciplinary work. This work will not only be   
useful for quantitative American historians, but also for those in   
the social sciences and history in general who wish to put their   
research into historical and comparative perspective.  
  
  
Trevon D. Logan is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Ohio State   
University and a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of   
Economic Research. Forthcoming publications include "Nutrition and   
Well-Being in the Late Nineteenth Century" in _Journal of Economic   
History_ and "Food, Nutrition, and Substitution in the Late   
Nineteenth Century" in _Explorations in Economic History_.  
  
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