The 1790 United States census originally enumerated a population of 3,929,214.
Conducted under the authority of the new Constitution, the census counted residents as of August 2, 1790. Congress assigned the work to marshals of the federal judicial districts, who were required to visit households and record specified categories of people.
The original total is important because later historical sources sometimes show a slightly different figure. Revised tabulations and corrections produced a commonly cited total of 3,929,326, while the number first published in 1790 was 3,893,635. The question’s wording distinguishes the original enumeration from later corrected totals.
The census covered the thirteen states and the Southwest Territory. Virginia was the most populous state, with 747,610 residents, while Delaware was the least populous state, with 59,094. The results were published in 1791 in a 56-page report, demonstrating how the young federal government began measuring the country it had recently created.