Quadroon, octoroon, and the fractions (United States, 1890)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1890 · Places: Africa
SUMMARY4. Quadroon, octoroon, and the fractions (United States, 1890) [Connections: Who decided who's Indian, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDThe 1890 instruction (Inquiry 4): "Write white, black, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, Chinese, Japanese, or Indian … Be particularly careful to distinguish between blacks, mulattoes, quadroons, and octoroons. The word 'black' should be used to describe those persons who have three-fourths or more black blood; 'mulatto,' those persons who have from three-eighths to five-eighths black blood; 'quadroon,' those persons who have one-fourth black blood; and 'octoroon,' those persons who have one-eighth or any trace of black blood." "Indian" is listed but given no definition
PATTERNFour tiers of African fractions, zero tiers for Indian. A person with one Black great-grandparent and Native parents had a defined box (octoroon) but no defined Indian box
LENS (WW9)They measured the African part in eighths and left the Aboriginal part off the ruler
OPENMost of the 1890 population schedules were destroyed by fire (1921); confirm which Southern counties survive