| Abstract: | Abstract A comparison of the proportionate age distributions for negroes enumerated in the decennial censuses of the United States in the first half of the rorh century indicates that by 1850, negro fertility apparently had been declining for at least 20 years. This paper develops the relationship of the age distribution of a declining fertility population, where the decline has persisted for less than 25 years, to the stable population with the same current schedules of fertility and mortality. This relationship is used to estimate the negro birth rate and total fertility as of 1850. In turn, these estimates and the relationship of the age distributions of two stable populations with different fertility are used to estimate the negro birth rate and total fertility as of 1830. |
