United States: distribution of white population by state and linguistic origin 1790

In 1790, in the region that now makes up the Continental United States, it is estimated that over 60 percent of the white population were of English descent. Massachusetts had the largest English share of its white population, at 82 percent, while Germans were widely represented in Pennsylvania.

Distribution of the white population in the United States and its territories in 1790, by ethnic or linguistic origin

State or territory	English	Scottish	Irish: Ulster	Irish: Republic of Ireland	German	Dutch	French	Swedish	Spanish	Other
Continental United States	60.1%	8.1%	5.9%	3.6%	8.6%	3.1%	2.3%	0.7%	0.8%	6.8%
Massachusetts	82%	4.4%	2.6%	1.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.8%	-	-	8.4%
Vermont	76%	5.1%	3.2%	1.9%	0.2%	0.6%	0.4%	-	-	12.6%
Rhode Island	71%	5.8%	2%	0.8%	0.5%	0.4%	0.8%	0.1%	-	18.6%
Virginia & West Virginia	68.5%	10.2%	6.2%	5.5%	6.3%	0.3%	1.5%	0.6%	-	0.9%
Connecticut	67%	2.2%	1.8%	1.1%	0.3%	0.3%	0.9%	-	-	26.4%
North Carolina	66%	14.8%	5.7%	5.4%	4.7%	0.3%	1.7%	0.2%	-	1.2%
Maryland & District of Columbia	64.5%	7.6%	5.8%	6.5%	11.7%	0.5%	1.2%	0.5%	-	1.7%
New Hampshire	61%	6.2%	4.6%	2.9%	0.4%	0.1%	0.7%	-	-	24.1%
South Carolina	60.2%	15.1%	9.4%	4.4%	5%	0.4%	3.9%	0.2%	-	1.4%
Delaware	60%	8%	6.3%	5.4%	1.1%	4.3%	1.6%	8.9%	-	4.1%
Maine	60%	4.5%	8%	3.7%	1.3%	0.1%	1.3%	-	-	21.1%
Kentucky & Tennessee	57.9%	10%	7%	5.2%	14%	1.3%	2.2%	0.5%	-	1.9%
Georgia	57.4%	15.5%	11.5%	3.8%	7.6%	0.2%	2.3%	0.6%	-	1.1%
New York	52%	7%	5.1%	3%	8.2%	17.5%	3.8%	0.5%	-	2.9%
New Jersey	47%	7.7%	6.3%	3.2%	9.2%	16.6%	2.4%	3.9%	-	3.7%
Pennsylvania	35.3%	8.6%	11%	3.5%	33.3%	1.8%	1.8%	0.8%	-	3.9%
Northwest Territory	29.8%	4.1%	2.9%	1.8%	4.3%	-	57.1%	-	-	-
French territories	11.2%	1.6%	1.1%	0.7%	8.7%	-	64.2%	-	12.5%	-
Spanish territories	2.5%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%	0.4%	-	-	-	96.5%	-

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Release date

2023

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Region

United States

Survey time period

1790

Supplementary notes

Release date is refers to the date of most recent access. The source was originally published in 1930.

Specifications for Ireland are unclear whether Ulster refers to the six counties of Northern Ireland only, or also includes the three counties of Ulster in the Republic of Ireland.

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