PLATE IV.-Proportion which negroes of former slave States bore to population of those

PLATE V-Proportion of negroes to total population in 1890.

It is, of course, well known that the negroes prefer higher temperatures than the white race. A measure of this is given by the statement that while the total population lives, on an average, under a mean annual temperature of 53° F., that under which the negro lives is, on an average, 61, or not less than 8 higher. The great body of the negroes live where the mean annual temperature ranges from 55° to 70°, very nearly 85 per cent of this element being found within the region thus defined. Nothing perhaps more sharply characterizes the difference in the habitat of the negroes and the element of foreign birth than the difference in temperature conditions under which they are found, a difference which may be characterized by the following statement: In those regions where the annual temperature exceeds 55° are found seven-eighths of the negroes. On the other hand, in those regions where the temperature is less than 55 are found nine-tenths of the foreign born.

Those who are acquainted with the relations between the distribution of population and rainfall over the surface of the country are aware that the great body of the negroes is found in regions of heavy rainfall. Indeed, more than nine-tenths of their numbers are found where it exceeds 40 inches annually, and more than three-fifths where it exceeds 50 inches. These figures are greatly in excess of those concerning the total population.

HISTORY OF THE NEGRO IN EACH SLAVE STATE.

Thus far the distribution and history of the race have been considered broadly. It will now be of interest to take up each of the former slave States individually and trace the history of the race within its limits. This is summarized in the following table and group of diagrams (Pl. V), which present in each of the former slave States the proportion which the negro element bore to the total population at each

census.

For economy of space the black bars representing the proportions in the diagrams are not extended to their full length, so the lengths of the bars do not represent the absolute percentage which the negroes bear to the total population. Since we are interested mainly in the relative lengths of the different bars of each State, and not in comparing those of one State with those of another, this is a matter of no consequence.

In Delaware the proportion of negroes in 1790 was about 22 per cent. This proportion increased gradually until 1840, when it was 25 per cent. Since then it has diminished, and in 1890 was about 17 per cent. In Maryland over one-third of the population were negroes in 1790. The proportion increased and reached a maximum in 1810, when it was 38 per cent. Since then it has diminished, and in 1890 was but 21 per cent. In the District of Columbia the proportion of negroes in 1800, the first year of record, was about 29 per cent. It reached its maximum with 33 per cent in 1810, and from that time steadily diminished until the opening of the civil war. In 1860 the proportion was 19 per cent. During the war large numbers of negroes took refuge within the capital, increasing the proportion to about one-third of the total population, which ratio has been maintained.

In Kentucky one-sixth of the population were negroes in 1790. The proportion increased until 1830, when it was about one-fourth of the population, since which time it has diminished and is at present but 14 per cent.

In Tennessee only one-tenth of the population were negroes at the time of the first census. That proportion steadily increased for 90 years, reaching its maximum in 1880, when it slightly exceeded one-fourth of the population. In the last ten years it has diminished a trifle.

The first report of population regarding Missouri was made in 1810. At that time about one-sixth of the inhabitants were negroes. In 1830 the proportion was slightly greater. Since then it has diminished rapidly, and in 1890 the negroes constituted less than 6 per cent of the population.

In the State of Virginia the negroes constituted in 1790 not less than 41 per cent of the inhabitants, and their proportion increased slightly for twenty years, reaching a maximum in 1810 of over 43 per cent. Since that time it has diminished steadily, and in 1890 constituted but 27 per cent, taking the States of Virginia and West Virginia together.

All the above are border States, and all, with the exception of Tennessee and the District of Columbia, show a similar history. They show an increase in the proportion for two, three, or four of the earlier decades, and then a constant and great diminution in the proportion. The other States show a very different history. North Carolina, starting with 27 per cent, has increased slowly and with some slight oscillations up to 1880, when the proportion reached 38 per cent. In the last decade it has diminished. South Carolina, starting with 44 per cent, increased her proportion until 1880, when more than three-fifths of the population were negroes. Since then there has been a trifling diminution. Georgia started with 36 per cent, and with

seme slight oscillations continued to increase until 1880. Within the last ten years there has been a slight reduction. In Florida the oscillations have been considerable. The history commenced with 1830, when 47 per cent of the population were negroes. It reached a maximum of 49 per cent at the next census, followed by a diminution for two decades. Then in 1870 it rose again to 49 per cent, since which time it has diminished rapidly, especially during the decade between 1880 and 1890. The history of Alabama commenced in 1820, when one-third of her people were negroes. The proportion increased up to 1870, and since then has diminished. Mississippi's history began in 1800, when 41 per cent of her people were negroes, and with some slight oscillations the proportion has increased up to the present time. The history of Louisiana commenced in 1810, when 55 per cent of her population were negroes. Her history has been a diversified one, the maximum proportion of this race being reached in 1830, with 59 per cent. Since that time it has, on the whole, diminished, and in 1890 half the people of the State were negroes. The history of Texas began in 1850, when 28 per cent of her people were negroes. The proportion increased for two decades, when it reached 31 per cent. Since that time it has diminished rapidly, owing largely to immigration to the central parts of the State. The history of Arkansas begins in 1820, when a little less than one-eighth of its people were negroes. The proportion has increased almost continuously from that time to the present, and in 1890 the negroes formed 27 per cent of the total population.

Thus it is seen that in the cotton States the proportion of the negro element has in nearly all cases increased until a very recent time. Indeed, in two or three of them it has increased up to the time of the last census, while in most of them the only diminution in the proportion has occurred during the last ten years. All this indieates in the most unmistakable terms a general southward migration of this race. As compared with the whites, the border States have lost in proportion of negroes for the past half century, while the cotton States have continued to gain until very recently.

Percentage of negroes to total population.

1880. 1870. 1860. 1850. 1840. 1830. 1820. 1810. 1800. 1790.

DETAILS OF MOVEMENTS OF NEGROES BETWEEN 1880 AND 1890.

The map on Pl. VI shows the movements of this race in detail during the ten years between 1880 and 1890, within the former slave States. The northern part of Missouri and western Texas are not represented upon this map, inasmuch as the number of negroes in these regions is not large.

The

The areas upon this map which have the darkest shade are those in which the number of negroes has absolutely diminished during the decade in question. areas in the lightest tint are those in which the negroes have increased, but at a rate less than the increase of the same element in the country at large. The areas of medium tint are those in which the negroes have increased more rapidly than in the country at large.

It is seen at once that the areas in which the negroes have decreased are mainly comprised in the northern of these States, principally in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, and secondarily in Tennessee and North Carolina. There are also areas of decrease in Texas and small areas in the other States, but these are of little importance in comparison with the great areas of the border States in which the number of negroes has actually diminished.