1790 ................................... 19.37 1800 ................................... 18.88 1810 ................................... 19.03 1830 ................................... 18.10 1840 ................................... 16.84 1850 ................................... 15.69 1860 ................................... 14.13 1870 ................................... 12.60 1880 ................................... 13.12 1890 ................................... 11.93 1900 ................................... 11.63 In 1860 the total number of negroes in the population of the United States was 4,441,000. Forty years later, in 1900, the number had just doubled, having reached 8,840,000. Nevertheless, it will be seen from the above table that the percentage of negroes in the total population has steadily diminished, although the negro population doubled between 1860 and 1900. Between 1890 and 1900 the comparative rates of increase for the whites and negroes were: whites, 21.49 Per cent; negroes, 18.10 per cent. Geographical Distribution of the Negroes. The negro problem would not be so acute in certain sections of the country if negroes were distributed evenly over the country instead of being massed as they are in certain sections. Ninety per cent of the total number of negroes in the country live in the South Atlantic and South Central states. Moreover, over eighty per cent live in the so-called "Black Belt" states,--the "Black Belt" being a chain of counties stretching from Virginia to Texas in which over half of the population are negroes. The following table shows the percentage of negro population in these states of the "Black Belt": Per cent. Alabama............................................. 45.2 Arkansas............................................ 28.0 Florida............................................. 43.6 Georgia............................................. 46.7 Louisiana........................................... 47.1 Mississippi......................................... 58.5 North Carolina...................................... 33.0 South Carolina...................................... 58.4 Tennessee........................................... 23.8 Texas............................................... 20.4 Virginia............................................ 35.7 While in only two of these states there is an absolute preponderance of negroes, yet these statistics give no idea of the massing of negroes in certain localities. In Washington County, Mississippi, for example, the negroes number 44,143, the whites 5002; in Beaufort County, South Carolina, the negroes number 32,137, the whites 3349. In many counties in the "Black Belt" more than three fourths of the population are negroes. It is in these states that the negro population is rapidly increasing.