A Brief History of Citizenship Questions in the US Census
Lots of commentary and opinion has been thrown around regarding the Trump administration's decision to include a question on citizenship in the next census. Lots of people have weighed in on it, and made statements both accurate and inaccurate, but I haven't seen any one of them yet say anything about what's been asked in previous censuses. I'm going to do that here. But first, Why does the United States take a census anyway? Taking of a census is mandated by the United States Constitution, Article I, section 2: "The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct." What's the data used for? To determine the representation of each state in the House of Representatives. The 14th amendment to the Constitution accomplishes several things: It established the basis for citizenship in the United States