Works of the late Doctor Benjamin Franklin/Information to thoſe who would remove to America

by Benjamin Franklin

 

INFORMATION TO THOSE WHO WOULD REMOVE TO AMERICA.

 

MANY perſons in Europe having, directly or by letters, expreſſed to the writer of this, who is well acquainted with North-America, their deſire of tranſporting and eſtabliſhing themſelves in that country; but who appear to him to have formed, through ignorance, miſtaken ideas and expectations of what is to be obtained there; he thinks it may be uſeful, and prevent inconvenient, expenſive, and fruitless removals and voyages of improper perſons, if he gives ſome clearer and truer notions of that part of the world than appear to have hitherto prevailed.

He finds it is imagined by numbers, that the inhabitants of North-America are rich, capable of rewarding, and diſpoſed to reward, all ſorts of ingenuity; that they are at the ſame time ignorant of all the ſciences, and conſequently that ſtrangers, poſſeſſing talents in the belles-lettres, fine arts, &c, muſt be highly eſteemed, and ſo well paid as to become eaſily rich themſelves; that, there are alſo abundance of profitable offices to be diſpoſed of, which the natives are not qualified to fill; and that having few perſons of family among them, ſtrangers of birth muſt be greatly reſpected, and of courſe eaſily obtain the beſt of thoſe offices, which will make all their fortunes: that the governments too, to encourage emigrations from Europe, not only pay the expence of perſonal tranſportation, but give lands gratis to ſtrangers, with negroes to work for them, utenſils of huſbandry, and flocks of cattle. Theſe are all wild imaginations; and thoſe who go to America with expectations founded upon them, will ſurely find themſelves diſappointed.

The truth is, that though there are in that country few people ſo miſerable as the poor of Europe, there are alſo very few that in Europe would be called rich: it is rather a general happy mediocrity that prevails. There are few great proprietors of the ſoil, and few tenants; moſt people cultivate their own lands, or follow ſome handicraft or merchandiſe; very few rich enough to live idly upon their rents or incomes, or to pay the high prices given in Europe for painting, ſtatues, architecture, and the other works of art that are more curious than uſeful. Hence the natural geniuſes that have ariſen in America, with ſuch talents, have uniformly quitted that country for Europe, where they can be more ſuitably rewarded. It is true that letters and mathematical knowledge are in eſteem there, but they are at the ſame time more common than is apprehended; there being already exiſting nine colleges, or univerſities, viz. four in New-England, and one in each of the provinces of New-York, New-Jerſey, Pennſylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, all furniſhed with learned profeſſors; beſides a number of ſmaller academies; theſe educate many of their youth in the languages, and thoſe ſciences that qualify men for the profeſſions of divinity, law, or phyſic. Strangers indeed are by no means excluded from exerciſing thoſe profeſſions; and the quick increaſe of inhabitants every where gives them a chance of employ, which they have in common with the natives. Of civil offices, or employments, there are few; no ſuperfluous ones as in Europe; and it is a rule eſtabliſhed in ſome of the ſtates, that no office ſhould be ſo profitable as to make it deſirable. The 36th article of the conſtitution of Pennſylvania runs expreſsly in theſe words: "As every freeman, to preſerve his independence (if he has not a ſufficient eſtate), ought to have ſome profeſſion, calling, trade, or farm, whereby he may honeſtly ſubſiſt, there can be no neceſſity for, nor uſe in, eſtabliſhing offices of profit; the uſual effects of which are dependence and ſervility, unbecoming freemen, in the poſſeſſors and expectants; faction, contention, corruption and diſorder among the people. Wherefore, whenever an office, through increaſe of fees or otherwiſe, becomes ſo profitable as to occaſion many to apply for it, the profits ought to be leſſened by the legiſlature."

Theſe ideas prevailing more or leſs in all the United States, it cannot be worth any man's while, who has a means of living at home, to expatriate himſelf in hopes of obtaining a profitable civil office in America; and as to military offices, they are at an end with the war, the armies being diſbanded. Much leſs is it adviſeable for a perſon to go thither, who has no other quality to recommend him but his birth. In Europe it has indeed its value; but it is a commodity that cannot be carried to a worſe market than to that of America, where people do not enquire concerning a ſtranger, What is be? but What can he do? If he has any uſeful art he is welcome; and if he exerciſes it, and behaves well, he will be reſpected by all that know him; but a mere man of quality, who on that account wants to live upon the public by ſome office or ſalary, will be deſpiſed and diſregarded. The huſbandman is in honour there, and even the mechanic, becauſe their employments are uſeful. The people have a ſaying, that God Almighty is himſelf a mechanic, the greateſt in the univerſe; and he is reſpected and admired more for the variety, ingenuity, and utility of his handiworks, than for the antiquity of his family. They are pleaſed with the obervation of a negro, and frequently mention it, that Boccarorra (meaning the white man) make de black man workee, make de horſe workee, make de ox workee, make ebery ting workee; only de hog. He de hog, no workee; he eat, he drink, he walk about, he go to ſleep when he pleaſe, he libb like a gentleman. According to theſe opinions of the Americans, one of them would think himſelf more obliged to a genealogiſt, who could prove for him that his anceſtors and relations for ten generations had been ploughmen, ſmiths, carpenters, turners, weavers, tanners, or even ſhoemakers, and conſequently that they were uſeful members of ſociety; than if he could only prove that they were gentlemen, doing nothing of value, but living idly on the labour of others, mere fruges conſumere nati^[1], and other- wife good for nothing, till by their death their eſtates, like the carcaſe of the negro's gentleman-hog, come to be cut up.

With regard to encouragements for ſtrangers from government, they are really only what are derived from good laws and liberty. Strangers are welcome, becaufe there is room enough for them all, and therefore the old inhabitants are not jealous of them; the laws protect them ſufficiently, ſo that they have no need of the patronage of great men; and every one will enjoy ſecurely the profits of his induſtry. But if he does not bring a fortune with him, he muſt work and be induſtrious to live. One or two years reſidence give him all the rights of a citizen; but the government does not at preſent, whatever it may have done in former times, hire people to become ſettlers, by paying their paſſages, giving land, negroes, utenſils, flock, or my other kind of emolument whatſoever. In ſhort, America is the land of labour, and by no means what the Engliſh call Lubberland, and the French Pays de Cocagne, where the ſtreets are ſaid to be paved with half-peck loaves, the houſes tiled with pancakes, and where the fowls fly about ready roaſted, crying, Come eat me!

Who then are the kind of perſons to whom an emigration to America may be advantageous? and what are the advantages they may reaſonably expect?

Land being cheap in that country, from the vaſt foreſts ſtill void of inhabitants, and not likely to be occupied in an age to come, inſomuch that the propriety of an hundred acres of fertile foil full of wood may be obtained near the frontiers, in many places, for eight or ten guineas, hearty young labouring men, who underſtand the huſbandry of corn and cattle, which is nearly the lame in that country as in Europe, may eaſily eſtabliſh themſelves there. A little money ſaved of the good wages they receive there while they work for others, enables them to buy the land and begin their plantation, in which they are aſſiſted by the good-will of their neighbours, and ſome credit. Multitudes of poor people from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Germany, have by this means in a few years become wealthy farmers, who in their own countries, where all the lands are fully occupied, and the wages of labour low, could never have emerged from the mean condition wherein they were born.

From the ſalubrity of the air, the healthineſs of the climate, the. plenty of good provisions, and the encouragement to early marriages, by the certainty of ſubſiſtence in cultivating the earth, the increaſe of inhabitants by natural generation is very rapid in America, and becomes ſtill more ſo by the acceſſion of ſtrangers; hence there is a continual demand for more artiſans of all the neceſſary and uſeful kinds, to ſupply thoſe cultivators of the earth with houſes, and with furniture and utenſils of the groſſer ſorts, which cannot ſo well be brought from Europe. Tolerably good workmen in any of thoſe mechanic arts, are ſure to find employ, and to be well paid for their work, there being no reſtraints preventing ſtrangers from exerciſing any art they underſtand, nor any permiſſion neceſſary. If they are poor, they begin firſt as ſervants or journeymen; and if they are ſober, induſtrious, and frugal, they ſoon become mailers, eſtabliſh themſelves in buſineſs, marry, raiſe families, and become reſpectable citizens.

Alſo, perſons of moderate fortunes and capitals, who having a number of children to provide for, are deſirous of bringing them up to induſtry, and to ſecure eſtates for their poſterity, have opportunities of doing it in America, which Europe does not afford. There they may be taught and practiſe profitable mechanic arts, without incurring diſgrace on that account; but on the contrary acquiring reſpect by ſuch abilities. There ſmall capitals laid out in lands, which daily become more valuable by the increaſe of people, afford a ſolid proſpect of ample fortunes thereafter for thoſe children. The writer of this has known ſeveral inſtances of large tracts of land, bought on what was then the frontier of Pennſylvania, for ten pounds per hundred acres, which, after twenty years, when the ſettlements had been extended far beyond them, ſold readily, without any improvement made upon them for three pounds per acre. The acre in America is the ſame with the Engliſh acre, or the acre of Normandy.

Thoſe who deſire to underſtand the ſtate of government in America, would do well to read the constitutions of the ſeveral ſtates, and the articles of confederation that bind the whole together for general purpoſes, under the direction of one aſſembly, called the Congreſs. Theſe conſtitutions have been printed, by order of Congreſs, in America; two editions of them have alſo been printed in London; and a good tranſlation of them into French, has lately been publiſhed at Paris.

Several of the princes of Europe having of late, from an opinion of advantage to ariſe by producing all commodities and manufactures within their own dominions, ſo as to diminiſh or render uſeleſs their importations, have endeavoured to entice workmen from other countries, by high ſalaries, privileges, &c. Many perſons pretending to be ſkilled in various great manufactures, imagining that America muſt be in want of them, and that the Congreſs would probably be diſpoſed to imitate the princes above mentioned, have propoſed to go over, on condition of having their paſſages paid, lands given, ſalaries appointed, excluſive privileges for terms of years, &c. Such perſons, on reading the articles of confederation, will find that the Congreſs have no power committed to them, or money put into their hands, for ſuch purpoſes; and that if any ſuch encouragement is given, it muſt be by the government of ſome ſeparate ſtate. This, however, has rarely been done in America; and when it has been done, it has rarely ſucceeded, ſo as to eſtabliſh a manufacture, which the country was not yet ſo ripe for as to encourage private perſons to ſet it up; labour being generally too dear there, and hands difficult to be kept together, every one deſiring to be a maſter, and the cheapneſs of land inclining many to leave trades for agriculture. Some indeed have met with ſucceſs, and are carried on to advantage; but they are generally ſuch as require only a few hands, or wherein great part of the work is performed by machines. Goods that are bulky, and of ſo ſmall value as not well to bear the expence of freight, may often be made cheaper in the country than they can be imported; and the manufacture of ſuch goods will be profitable wherever there is a ſufficient demand. The farmers in America produce indeed a good deal of wool and flax; and none is exported, it is all worked up; but it is in the way of domeſtic manufacture, for the uſe of the family. The buying up quantities of wool and flax, with the deſign to employ ſpinners, weavers, &c. and form great eſtabliſhments, producing quantities of linen and woollen goods for ſale, has been ſeveral times attempted in different provinces; but thoſe projects have generally failed, goods of equal value being imported cheaper. And when the governments have been ſolicited to ſupport ſuch ſchemes by encouragements, in money, or by impoſing duties on importation of ſuch goods, it has been generally refuſed, on this principle, that if the country is ripe for the manufacture, it may be carried on by private perſons to advantage; and if not, it is a folly to think of forcing nature. Great eſtabliſhments of manufacture, require great numbers of poor to do the work for ſmall wages; thoſe poor are to be found in Europe, but will not be found in America, till the lands are all taken up and cultivated, and the exceſs of people who cannot get land want employment. The manufacture of ſilk, they ſay, is natural in France, as that of cloth in England, becauſe each country produces in plenty the firſt material: but if England will have a manufacture of ſilk as well as that of cloth, and France of cloth as well, as that of ſilk, theſe unnatural operations muſt be ſupported by mutual prohibitions, or high duties on the importation of each other's goods; by which means the workmen are enabled to tax the home conſumer by greater prices, while the higher wages they receive make them neither happier nor richer, ſince they only drink more and work leſs. Therefore the governments in America do nothing to encourage ſuch projects. The people, by this means, are not impoſed on either by the merchant or mechanic: if the merchant demands too much profit on imported ſhoes, they buy of the ſhoemaker; and if he aſks too high a price, they take them of the merchant: thus the two profeſſions are checks on each other. The ſhoemaker, however, has, on the whole, a conſiderable profit upon his labour in America, beyond what he had in Europe, as he can add to his price a ſum nearly equal to all the expences of freight and commiſſion, riſque or inſurance, &c. neceſſarily charged by the merchant. And the caſe is the ſame with the workmen in every other mechanic art. Hence it is, that artiſans generally live better and more eaſily in America than in Europe; and ſuch as are good œconomiſts make a comfortable proviſion for age, and for their children. Such may, therefore, remove with advantage to America.

In the old long-ſettled countries of Europe, all arts, trades, profeſſions, farms, &c. are ſo full, that it is difficult for a poor man who has children to place them where they may gain, or learn to gain, a decent livelihood. The artiſans, who fear creating future rivals in buſineſs, refuſe to take apprentices, but upon conditions of money, maintenance, or the like, which the parents are unable to comply with. Hence the youth are dragged up in ignorance of every gainful art, and obliged to become ſoldiers, or ſervants, or thieves, for a ſubſiſtence. In America, the rapid increaſe of inhabitants takes away that fear of rivalſhip, and artiſans willingly receive apprentices from the hope of profit by their labour, during the remainder of the time ſtipulated, after they ſhall be inſtructed. Hence it is eaſy for poor families to get their children inſtructed; for the artiſans are ſo deſirous of apprentices, that many of them will even give money to the parents, to have boys from ten to fifteen years of age bound apprentices to them, till the age of twenty-one; and many poor parents have, by that means, on their arrival in the country, raiſed money enough to buy land ſufficient to eſtabliſh themſelves, and ta ſubſiſt the reſt of their family by agriculture. Theſe contracts for apprentices are made before a magiſtrate, who regulates the agreement according to reaſon and juſtice; and having in view the formation of a future uſeful citizen, obliges the matter to engage by a written indenture, not only that, during the time of ſervice ſtipulated, the apprentice ſhall be duly provided with meat, drink, apparel, waſhing, and lodging, and at its expiration with a complete new ſuit of clothes, but alſo that he ſhall be taught to read, write, and caſt accounts; and that he ſhall be well inſtructed in the art or profeſſion of his maſter, or ſome other, by which he may afterwards gain a livelihood, and be able in his turn to raiſe a family. A copy of this indenture is given to the apprentice or his friends, and the magiſtrate keeps a record of it, to which recourſe may be had, in caſe of failure by the matter in any point of performance. This deſire among the matters to have more hands employed in working for them, induces them to pay the paſſages of young perſons, of both ſexes, who, on their arrival, agree to ſerve them one, two, three, or four years; thoſe who have already learned a trade, agreeing for a ſhorter term, in proportion to their ſkill, and the conſequent immediate value of their ſervice; and thoſe who have none, agreeing for a longer term, in conſideration of being taught an art their poverty would not permit them to acquire in their own country.

The almoſt general mediocrity of fortune that prevails in America, obliging its people to follow ſome buſineſs for ſubſiſtence, thoſe vices that ariſe uſually from idleneſs, are in a great meaſure prevented. Induſtry and conſtant employment are great preſervatives of the morals and virtue of a nation. Hence bad examples to youth are more rare in America, which muſt be a comfortable conſideration to parents. To this may be truly added, that ſerious religion, under its various denominations, is not only tolerated, but reſpected and practiſed. Atheiſm is unknown there; infidelity rare and ſecret; ſo that perſons may live to a great age in that country without having their piety ſhocked by meeting with either an atheiſt or an infidel. And the Divine Being ſeems to have manifeſted his approbation of the mutual forbearance and kindneſs with which the different feels treat each other, by the remarkable proſperity with which he has been pleaſed to favour the whole country.

1. .......born
   Merely to eat up the corn. Watts.