Students will need two contrasting color pencils for this bar graph.  Orange and Green work well.  Point out to students that each small division on the 1790 graph represents 0.1 million (one-tenth of a million, or 100,000 people), so the top bar will be very short.

What the Chart Shows

   This first graph shows that the population in 1790 was overwhelmingly rural.  Only about 200,000 Americans lived in cities. 

   The second graph on this chart shows that in 2000, a clear majority of Americans lived in urban areas.  Less than one out of five lived in a rural area.

   The chart also shows, of course, that there has been a very large population increase since 1790.
 
 

   Students will need a collection of color pencils for this pie chart, as well as a regular #2 pencil to make the labels.   Use a light color, such as yellow, for the largest slice, so the number that will be written inside it is not obscured.

What the Chart Shows

   This chart shows that diversity was already a characteristic of the American population in 1790.  Just under half of the population was of English descent, even though all of the colonies were founded by Englishmen.

   People of African descent were the next largest group, at about 20 percent of the population. 

   Most of the rest of the population traced back to the countries of Western Europe. 
 
 

   The introduction to these charts explains that many census figures can be found in two government publications:   Historical Statistics of the United States and Statistical Abstract of the United States.
   If possible, show your students these publications and demonstrate the incredible variety of statistics they contain about America and its people.

   How has the pattern changed...

   The pie graph would have to include many more groups if it were redrawn for the year 2000.  For example, Asians and Hispanics would be fairly large slices of the pie.  Native Americans would be a slice.  Countries of Eastern and Southern Europe would also be significant in the chart, and immigrants from the Middle East and India would be shown.