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LS signed “Th: Jefferson,” one page, 7.75 x 10, March 31, 1790. Handwritten letter to Samuel Huntington, "His Excellency the Gov'r of Connecticut," in part: "I have the honor to send you herein enclosed two copies duly authenticated of the Act providing for the enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States; also of the Act to establish an uniform rule of Naturalization; also of the Act making appropriations for the support of Government for the year 1790." Docketed on the reverse in Samuel Huntington's hand: "Mr. Secretary Jefferson, March 31st, 1790, rec'd April 14, 1790, answer'd same day." In fine condition.
With this letter, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson communicated significant acts of the First United States Congress to Governor Samuel Huntington of Connecticut: namely, the act calling for the nation's first census and the act setting the first rules for the granting of United States citizenship to immigrants, which limited naturalization to 'free white persons of good character.'
The Census Act of 1790, passed on March 1, 1790, authorized the first U.S. census, mandating that U.S. Marshals conduct the enumeration of the population, collecting data on the number of free white males, free white females, other free persons, and slaves—numbers essential to determining proportional representation in Congress. The first census, conducted on August 2, 1790, recorded a population of 3,929,214.
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