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United States Census of 1850 - IPUMS Subset

United States, 1850
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Reference ID
USA_1850_PHC_v01_M_v7.5_A_IPUMS
Producer(s)
Department of the Interior, IPUMS
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Created on
Sep 03, 2025
Last modified
Sep 03, 2025
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Insane (US1850A_INSANE)

Data file: USA1850_PHC-P-H

Overview

Type: Discrete
Start: 464
End: 464
Width: 1
Range: -
Format: Numeric

Questions and instructions

Literal question
<svar a="all" v="US50A451 US50A452 US50A453 US50A454">13. ____ Whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper or convict.<br /></svar>
Categories
Value Category
1 No (blank)
2 Yes
Warning: these figures indicate the number of cases found in the data file. They cannot be interpreted as summary statistics of the population of interest.

Description

Definition
This variable identifies if the person was considered "insane," as contemporaries understood that term. The enumeration instructions in 1850 did not include a definition of "insane" . However, the 1860 instructions to enumerators stated that a person institutionalized for insanity should be so labeled, but someone "competent to manage his or her business affairs without manifesting any symptoms of insanity to an ordinary observer" should not be. "As a general rule," these instructions continued, "the term Insanity applies to individuals who once possessed mental faculties which have become impaired," not to persons suffering a mental disability from birth.
Universe
United States 1850 (100%): All persons

concept

Concept
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