Intercensal Estimates of Native-born White Life Expectancy in the United States, 1850-1860

This paper uses two-census methods to estimate life tables for the native-born white population of the United States between 1850 and 1860. In particular, I rely on the Preston-Bennett census-based method of mortality estimation and the 1850 and 1860 IPUMS samples to construct abridged life tables by sex for ages 10 and above. I then use Brass's two-parameter logit model and existing life tables from the 1901 Death Registration Area to smooth the life tables values and to estimate infant and childhood mortality. In contrast to other recent studies of nineteenth-century U.S. mortality, the new estimates indicate that white females did not enjoy a significant advantage in life expectancy over white males and that northern-born whites had higher life expectancies than southern-born whites.