The Census and Surplus

One of the most striking aspects of the census during the early nineteenth century was simply the astounding rate of population growth that it indicated. The population of Great Britain more than doubled between 1801 and 1851, with the highest rate of growth occurring during the 1810s and 1820s. The census made these dramatic trends statistically visible, transforming what might have been anecdotally observed into a confirmed phenomenon that could be measured with exactitude and charted over time. Yet at least as important as the big picture that the census provided was the way in which it subdivided the population. If the overall size of the population could be imagined as an expanding sphere, then the census dealt with both the external dimensions of this sphere and the complex internal composition of its changing bulk. The census, through its emphasis on the comparative numerical strength of various groups within the nation, raised questions about which segments of the population were increasing the fastest and what effects these increases would have upon the nation as a whole. The census empowered people by allowing them to recognize themselves as members of groups that were numerically larger than other groups; in that sense, the census suggested to people that more was better, and such interpretations can be understood as “positive”: they encouraged optimism about large numbers. Subdivision of the population, then, was of vital importance to developing group subjectivities.