Why was Herman Hollerith's system urgently needed for the U.S. Census?
Answer
The 1880 count took nearly eight years to process.
The primary impetus for Herman Hollerith's electromechanical system was the severe inefficiency plaguing the U.S. Census compilation process. The massive undertaking of tallying the 1880 population required nearly eight full years to complete manually. This alarming timeline meant that by the time the final tally for the 1890 enumeration was ready, the preceding data would already be severely obsolete, creating an administrative crisis that demanded an automated, high-speed tabulation solution.
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