Tarrago goes back to 1776, when the thirteen rebel English colonies in North America sought the help of the Spanish Crown. A selective bibliography, including many printed primary sources, as well as monographs and journal articles.

The census of 1790, the first official enumeration of all heads of household residing in the infant republic, is the most important source concerning ordinary citizens at following the ratification of the Constitution. The original 1790 enumerations which have withstood the passage of time cover the present states of Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Vermont. In each of the published census volumes the schedules are arranged by county and in some cases by minor subdivisions of counties, thus enabling the researcher to narrow his field of research to a particular judicial district. Each volume is separately indexed, so the researcher has only a single alphabet to consult for each state. Heads of families, arranged in alphabetical order under each county and district, are listed with the following information after each name: Number of free white males of sixteen years and upward; number of free white males under sixteen years; number of free white females; number of all other free persons; number of slaves. The 1790 federal census for North Carolina identifies a population of ______ persons.