Comment by projektfu

That's a different question. Others have addressed why the census enumerates various things. The first census in 1790 enumerated the name of every head of household and the number of free white men age 16 and over, free white males under 16, free white women, other free persons and slaves in each household. An assistant was designated for each state.

https://www.archives.gov/files/research/census/1790/1790cens...