U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for January 8: First State of the Union

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

FIRST STATE OF THE UNION

Profile America — Sunday, January 8th. On this date in 1790, President George Washington addressed a joint session of Congress to deliver the first State of the Union report, as required by the still young Constitution. The requirement didn't demand a speech, and after delivering just one, President Thomas Jefferson began reporting in writing, feeling a speech was too magisterial. The spoken presentation was revived over a century later by Woodrow Wilson. Washington's address has echoes to this day, as he stated "the terms on which foreigners may be admitted to the rights of citizens should be speedily ascertained by a uniform rule of naturalization." The first U.S. census, taken just months later, counted a population of just over 3.9 million residents. Today's foreign-born population of 41 million is over 10 times that number. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.

Sources: 
First address/accessed 11/3/2016: http://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/36120 
Written SOTU/accessed 11/3/2016: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/jefferson.html  
First Census: www.census.gov/history/www/through_the_decades/fast_facts/1790_fast_facts.html 
Foreign-born population/American Community Survey: http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/14_5YR/S0501

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

Related Links

http://www.census.gov

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