“Indians not taxed”

This text from the “Act Providing for the Actual Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States” of February 9, 1790, was passed to address Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which called for taxation to be apportioned among the different states “according to their respective numbers” and “excluding Indians not taxed.” The designation of “Indians not taxed” meant that Indigenous people who left their communities, assimilated into white society, and paid taxes could be counted in the U.S. Census as citizens of the United States.