Racial and ethnic demographics of the United States

The racial and ethnic demographics of the United States have changed dramatically throughout its history.

During the American colonial period, British colonial officials conducted censuses in some of the Thirteen Colonies that included enumerations by race. In addition, tax lists and other reports provided additional data and information about the racial demographics of the Thirteen Colonies during this time period.

People have been enumerated by race in every United States Census since the first one in 1790. Collection of data on race and ethnicity in the United States Census has changed over time, including addition of new enumeration categories and changes in definitions of those categories.

The Black (African American) population was non-existent in 1610, but increased rapidly after 1620 with the implementation of the slave trade in colonial areas which later became parts of the United States. African Americans (Blacks) made up almost one-fifth of the United States population in 1790, but their percentage of the total U.S. population declined in almost every U.S. census until 1930. From at least 1790 until the start of World War I, the overwhelming majority (around ninety percent) of African Americans lived in the southern United States. In addition, before 1865, the overwhelming majority of African Americans were slaves. The Great Migration throughout the twentieth century (starting from World War I) resulted in more than six million African Americans leaving the Southern U.S. (especially rural areas) and moving to other parts of the United States (especially to urban areas) due to the greater economic/job opportunities, less anti-black violence/lynchings, and a smaller amount of segregation/discrimination there. Due to the Great Migration, many large cities outside of the former Confederacy (such as New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland) experienced huge increases in the African American percentage of their total population.

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