If I were a farmer on a small piece of land in England during the eighteenth century and got word about an opportunity to start my life over again in the New World, I would go for it. After reading the documents about Pennsylvania from this time, I think the chance of becoming more successful than I would be in England outweighs the risks that come with relocating to an uncertain land across the ocean. If I decided to immigrate, there would be doubts and fears in my mind from all of the uncertainty that surrounds my future. The documents seem to indicate to me that Pennsylvania is the best poor mans land in America for a variety of reasons including abundant jobs, resources and opportunities to become self sufficient.
One of the main factors
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that would draw people to immigrate would be that they could earn higher wages and produce more than through farming than they could living in England. “For Poor People (both Men and Women) of all kinds, can here get three times the wages for their Labour they can in England or Wales” (Source 1, Page 41). In addition to this, the author of the first document, Gabriel Thomas, makes a point of explaining that commodities such as food, drink, and clothing are less expensive in Pennsylvania. “Corn and Flesh, and what else serves Man for Drink, Food and Rayment, is much cheaper here than in England” (Source 1, Page 41). Thomas clarifies this by saying that the whole area is very productive and fertile which allows things to be made cheaply and for laborers to be paid good wages. It seems that the land of Pennsylvania is more productive than that of England. “Farmers commonly will get twice the encrease of Corn for every Bushel they sow, that the Farmers in England can from the richest Land they have” (Source 1, page 42). Being able to plant the same amount but reap twice the output would be a great way to find success in Pennsylvania for people looking to immigrate. In addition to the information given by Thomas, the author of document number five gives more details about what life is like in Pennsylvania.
This document was written with the intention of persuading people to immigrate so perhaps it is not the most accurate description of life in the colony. If I did not know any better and was reading it as an English farmer, I would be impressed with how good it made things seem over in the colony. There does not seem to be poverty like there was in England at the time. “Out of trade there is not much wealth to be found, but at the same time there is very little poverty, and hardly such a thing as a beggar in the province” (Source 5, Page 46). This means that there is not a cash crop like tobacco in Virginia that can be grown and make the framers very wealthy. However, since poverty rates are low, that shows that most people are able to make enough to live a comfortable life and have everything they need. Again, it is mentioned that the cost of living is relatively low compared to that of England. For gentlemen this meant that they could easily afford some luxuries with the money they had left over after purchasing all the supplies they need to survive. Unlike in England, it was not necessary to spend all a yearly income in Pennsylvania due to food, drinks, and other basic essentials being cheaper. In cases where people were poor and did not make enough to sustain themselves, the Quakers would step in and offer assistance. “It is much …show more content…
to honor of this sect that they support their own poor in all countries, in a manner much more respectable than known in any other religion” (Source 5, Page 46). It would be relieving for immigrants to know that if things didn’t work out for them right away that there were people who would help them along. In addition to all the other positive things this document highlights about Pennsylvania, there is the fact that anyone can hunt in the colony as long as they are not on someone’s land. “Shooting and fishing are much more followed, and are in greater perfection than they are in England, though every man is allowed both to shoot and fish throughout the province, except the latter in cultivated grounds” (Source 5, Page 46). This would appeal to people living in England because hunting was considered a leisure activity for the upper classes. In Pennsylvania, they could obtain food through hunting and fishing. As a prospective immigrant, one of the things I would like to know about is what the term of servitude would be like during my first years in the colony.
Documents two, three, and fourteen talk about what it was like for people who came to work as indentured servants. It is important to know that many servants were needed to help with the large task of clearing land, constructing buildings and working for craftsmen. “There was a necessity of employing a great Number of Hands, for clearing the Land, being over-grown with wood for some hundred miles” (Source 2, Page 42). Indentured servants could be employed in a variety of trades working for craftsmen or as servants in gentlemen’s homes. This time of servitude lasted for a few years and then the person became free. “When one has finished his or her term, he or she is entitled to a new suit of clothes at parting; and if it has been so stipulated, a man gets in addition a horse, a woman, a cow” (Source 3, Page 44). This sounds promising to someone hoping to start over in a new
place. Although there are many things that highlight the positive aspects of immigrating to Pennsylvania, there are a few things that would be of concern to someone making the decision to come. Several details of the voyage to America as well as the conditions of servitude seem very harsh. This first of these would be that when the ship arrives in the port, servants who are not paying for their passage themselves cannot leave until someone comes along and decides to employ them. “When the ships have landed in Philadelphia after their long voyage, no one is permitted to leave them except those who pay for their passage or can give good security; the others who cannot pay, must remain on board the ships till they are purchased” (Source 3, Page 3). Also, if a family member dies when they are more than halfway done with the voyage, the surviving family members must pay for their passage as well. Something I would like for information on is how likely it would be that I would be separated from my family and if it was possible to meet up with them after our terms were over. Starting over would be hard enough on its own without having to go through it disconnected from that people that mean the most to me. A third thing that would make me apprehensive about signing away several years of my life as a servant are the conditions that servants have to live and work in. Some documents say that masters provide servants and slaves with some land so they can provide for themselves. Others offer a description of less ideal conditions for servants. “However hard he may be compelled to work in his fatherland, he will surely find it quite as hard, if not harder, in the new country” (Source 3, Page 44). Even in cases where masters are abusive to their servants, the servants cannot escape because the master will find them and they will be subject to punishment. “If a runaway has been away from his master one day, he must serve for it as punishment a week, for a week a month, and for a month half a year” (Source 3, Page 44). In addition to servants coming to work for a few years, slaves from Africa were also being brought in to work for the remainder of their lives. When talking about the conditions of slavery, author William Moraley says “They are seldom made free, for fear of being burdensome to the Provinces” (Source 2, Page 43). The increasing number of slaves present would make me wary because I would suspect my master might treat me the same way or not release me when my time is done. All in all I think that Pennsylvania was the best poor mans country in America due to its low cost of living and likelihood of obtaining property after completing a term of service. Compared to the other regions we covered in depth so far, Pennsylvania seems like a more accepting and laid back colony to settle in. The Chesapeake area was dominated by people trying to get rich from tobacco production and by freedmen causing chaos because they did not receive the land they were promised. “They still would not grow enough corn to feed themselves, but they grew tobaccos as though their lives depended on it” (Morgan, 109). To the north in New England, the main group of people who came were there for religious reasons and were entirely concerned about living out their Puritan beliefs and displaying physical proof of their position among the elect that were going to heaven. “Only those who gave a convincing account of such a conversion experience could be admitted to full church membership” (Anderson, 193). In contrast to both Virginia and New England, Pennsylvania was a place middle class people could come and work for someone and then become successful on their own. It was not a place that sought one type of colonist, anyone was welcome to come as long as they were willing to work hard.
Indentured servant - Someone who agreed to work for a number of years in exchange for the cost of a voyage to North America
By the 18th century, Pennsylvania was becoming home for American Development. Many people that were drawn to Pennsylvania were servants whether, for sometimes 4 years or however long, it took to pay off debt for their travel across the Atlantic. If they weren’t servant, they were slaves who almost had no chance of freedom. Servants had a chance to become free after paying off their debts with work, but not the same for slaves.
The seventeenth century marked the start of great colonization and immigration to the New World that was North America. Mainly in on the eastern coast of what is now the United States, England established colonies on this new land to thrive socially and economically. The English government readily sent its citizens to America to exploit its abundant source of raw materials and the English people exponentially came to the colonies to start a new life for themselves and to thrive socially. In Virginia during the seventeenth century, the geographical attributes in this region allowed the establishment of the cash crop tobacco to rapidly transform the colony socially and economically. Particularly in the Chesapeake Bay, the goal of social and economical development was achieved.
While the Protestant Revolution raged in Europe, Catholics and other radicals were fleeing to the New World to find religious freedom and to escape prosecution. Because of this, the northern colonies became more family and religiously orientated as the families of the pilgrims settled there. From the Ship’s List of Emigrants Bound for New England we see that six families on board made up sixty nine of the ships passengers (B). Not only did families tend to move to New England, but whole congregations made the journey to find a place where they could set up “a city upon a hill”, and become an example to all who follow to live by as John Winthrop put it to his Puritan followers (A). Contrastingly, the Chesapeake colonies only had profit in their mind, which pushed them to become agriculturally advanced. Since Virginia, one of the Chesapeake colonies, was first settled with the intention of becoming an economic power house, it was mainly inhabited by working-class, single men. The average age of a man leaving for the Americas was only twenty two and a half years old according to the Ship’s List of Emigrants bound for Virginia (C). The harsh conditions of the colony did not appeal to those who wished to settle with a family. Added on to that was the fact that the average lifespan in the Chesapeake colonies was a full ten years or more shorter than that in other more desirable living quarters to the north.
Indentures -- is a labourer under contract of the employer in exchange for an extension to the period of their indenture, which could thereby continue indefinitely (normally it would be for seven years). In other cases, indentured servants were subject to violence at the hands of their employers in the homes or fields in which they worked.
During the 1600’s people began to look for different types of work in the new world. As cash crops, such as tobacco, indigo, and rice, were growing in the South, there became a need for labor. This got the attention of convicts, debtors, and other people looking for new opportunities and money. Indentured servitude was vastly growing during the 17th and 18th centuries. Approximatively 10 million men, women, and children were moved to the new world. Women during this time found themselves being sold to men for these cash crops. A commonly used term during this time for these women was tobacco brides. Almost 7.7 million of the slaves captured and moved to the new world were African Americans. Slaves and indentured servants had it rough for
In Pennsylvania, progress was made toward social reform. No provisions had been made in order to receive military defense. This colony promoted peace. Also, no restrictions were placed on immigration, and naturalization was made easy, making it easier for new immigrants to move there. Many people in the colony disliked the idea of black slavery. Therefore, all of the social characteristics made it easier for the citizens to grasp the concept that there was no need for contradictions in social status.
Since it was easier to grow grain and livestock in the Mid-Atlantic region, there was a diverse group of farmers, fishermen, and merchants who worked in those colonies. The environmental conditions were ideal for farms of various sizes and the Middle colonists could trade in market areas where the colonial regions met. Although a lot of money could be made by growing tobacco (in Maryland especially) and other cash crops, they were bad for the soil and people needed more land. However, this resulted in a newfound lack of labor, which was an issue. For instance, families procreated too slowly, there was a high infant mortality rate, African slaves cost too much, and, according to the colonists, Native Americans didn’t make good slaves. Eventually white indentured servants from Europe were recruited to work on plantations, but it was a difficult life for them- even after they were freed they continued to earn low wages. This high demand of cash crops in Maryland and other Middle colonies led to an overall decline in the wellness of the
Initially, William Bradford’s colonies were communalistic in nature. In order for the Pilgrims to get the financial support they needed to go to the New World, they joined with a group of “adventurers” who helped finance the voyage. The two groups made a pact to ensure the unity and success of the colony. Because of this pact, communalism was essential to the survival of the colony, and all had to act with the community in mind. There was no room for individual desires or wealth. According to the rules that were established, the colonial government assigned different people specific tasks to which they were best suited; some were fishermen, some farmers, others artisans, all focusing on making the community stronger and more successful. A license was required to fish, and the colony regulated virtually every element of food production and land use. Each person was obligated to donate some of his crop to the community, in order that no one would be rich, and no one would be poor. All profits made off one’s land would be property of the community and used to support the colonial government as well as provide supplies to new settlers who came without the necessary provisions for survival. Preservation of the environment was not the primary goal of these laws, but they did inadvertently put a check on how much land the
Farmer’s discontent during the period 1870 – 1900 had an impact on their attitudes and actions towards politics. During this period manufacturing had a growth spurt and agricultural started to decline. This made it harder for the farmers to make a decent living. For example in document G it shows how much manufacturing increased between the 50 years. America could no longer dream to be a nation of small freehold farms. Manufacturers and people living in big cities depended on farmers to supply everything. Many people didn’t realize how much of an affect farmers had on their lives. If somebody was to take farms away, everything would have completely crashed.
Colonial living in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the New World was both diverse and, in many cases, proved deadly through such avenues as disease, Native American attacks, a lack of proper medical treatment, and disastrous weather conditions. Even through all of these hardships, the first colonists persevered, doing their best to see the blessings in their lives and create a better life for their children through all of the uncertainties. Nothing, it seems, in the original colonies was set in stone except for the fact that they never knew what the next day would hold in store. Everything, even small mishaps, had dramatic impacts on the social, economic, and political aspects of their lives. These circumstances, however, were more strongly influenced by geography than class position, unlike what many were used to in England. How population, economics, disease, and climate played into the social conditions of early colonists is truly a story for the ages. Whether people were seeking land, religious freedom, or money and profits, everyone worked to a certain extent just to survive, let alone thrive, in the wilderness that was North America at that time.
The role of an indentured servant in the 1700s was not a glamorous one. They came to the New World knowing that, for a time, they would be slaves for someone they did not know and the risk of disease and death was high, but the opportunity that laid ahead of them after their time of servitude was worth everything to these settlers of the New World. They came to America for the same reasons as all of the other settlers. Religious freedom, land, wealth, and a new start were motives for both settlers and indentured servants but the one thing separating most settlers from the indentured servants was that they could afford their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Indentured servants couldn’t buy their ticket to the New World, but that didn’t stop
misery in no less than 32 children in our ship, all of whom were thrown into the sea.” (Gottlieb Mittelberger, Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750). Once the indentured servants arrived to their destination, they would sign a contract in agreement to serve their designated master. There was no relationship between a master and a servant. It was in agreement that the servant would work
Kate, Stanley & Murrin, John; Colonial America, Essay in Politics and Social Development; U.N.C. Press; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; 1983.
Indentured Servants helped the colonies progress their population. England at the time was over populated, and jobs were hard to find. So many people that could not afford the boat trip over to America offered themselves as to be an indentured servant for a period of time. This contractual term can last from between four to seven years. Many colonists preferred having indentured servants over slaves, cause they also helped ward off Native Americans from attacking settlers. The one big draw back of indentured servant was that they usually did not make it pass the first year of their contract.