An
Historical and Geographical Account of Pennsylvania (1698)
GABRIEL
THOMAS
I
must needs say, even the present Encouragements are very great and inviting, 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.
I
shall instance in a few, which may serve; nay, and will hold in all the rest.
The first was a Black-Smith (my next Neighbour), who himself and one Negro Man
he had, got Fifty Shillings in one Day, by working up a Hundred Pound Weight of
Iron, which at Six Pence per Pound (and that is the common Price in that
Countrey) amounts to that Summ.
And
for Carpenters, both House and Ship, Brick-layers, Masons, either of these
Trades-Men, will get between Five and Six Shillings every Day constantly. As to
Journey-Men Shooe-Makers, they have Two Shillings per Pair both for Men and
Womens Shooes: And Journey-Men Taylors have Twelve Shillings per Week and their
Diet. Sawyers get between Six and Seven Shillings the Hundred for Cutting of
Pine-Boards. And for Weavers, they have Ten or Twelve Pence the Yard for Weaving
of that which is little more than half a Yard in breadth. ...
Corn
and Flesh, and what else serves Man for Drink, Food and Rayment, is much cheaper
here than in England, or elsewhere; but the chief reason why Wages of Servants
of all sorts is much higher here than there, arises from the great Fertility and
Produce of the Place; besides, if these large Stipends were refused them, they
would quickly set up for themselves, for they can have Provision very cheap, and
land for a very small matter, or next to nothing in comparison of the Purchace
of lands in England; and the Farmers there, can better afford to give that great
Wages than the Farmers in England can, for several Reasons very obvious.
As First, their land costs them (as I said but just now) little or nothing in comparison, of which the Farmers commonly will get twice the encrease of Corn for every Bushel they sow, that the Farmers in England can from richest Land they have.
In
the Second place, they have constantly good price for their Corn, by reason of
the great and quick vent [passage] into Barbadoes and other Islands; through
which means Silver is become more plentiful than here in England, considerin~
the Number of People, and that causes a quick Trade for both Corn and Cattle;
and that is the reason that Corn differs no\\' from the Price formerly, else it
would be at half the Price it was at then; for a Brother of mine (to my own
particular knowledge) sold within the compass of one Week, about One Hundred and
Twenty fat Beasts, most of them good handsom large Oxen.
Plantations
in Pennsylvania (1743)
WILLIAM MORALEY
At
the first Peopling [of] these Colonies, there was a Necessity of employing a
great Number of Hands, for the clearing the Land, being over-grown with Wood for
some Hundred of Miles; to which Intent, the first Settlers not being sufficient
of themselves to improve those Lands, were not only obliged to purchase a great
Number of English Servants to assist them, to whom they granted great
Immunities, and at the Expiration of their Servitude, Land was given to
encourage them to continue there; but were likewise obliged to purchase
Multitudes of Negro Slaves from Africa, by which Means they are become
the richest Farmers in the World, paying no Rent, nor giving Wages either to
purchased Servants or Negro Slaves; so that instead of finding the Planter
Rack-rented, as the English Farmer, you will taste of their Liberality,
they living in Affluence and Plenty.
The
Condition of the Negroes is very bad, by reason of the Severity of the Laws,
there being no Laws made in Favour of these unhap[p]y Wretches: For the least
Trespass, they undergo the severest Punishment; but their Masters make them some
amends, by suffering them to marry, which makes them easier, and often prevents
their running away. The Consequence of their marrying is this, all their
Posterity are Slaves without Redemption; and it is in vain to attempt an Escape,
tho' they often endeavour it; for the Laws against them are so severe, that
being caught after running away, they are unmercifully whipped; and if they die
under the Discipline, their Masters suffer no Punish- ment, there being no Law
against murdering them. So if one Man kills another's Slave, he is only obliged
to pay his Value to the Master, besides Damages that may accrue for the Loss of
him in his Business.
The
Masters generally allow them a Piece of Ground, with Materials for improving it.
The lime of working for themselves, is Sundays, when they raise on their
own Account divers Sorts of Corn and Grain, and sell it in the Markets. They buy
with the Money Cloaths for themselves and Wives; as for the Children, they
belong to the Wives Master, who bring them up; so the Negro need fear no
Expense, his Business being to get them for his Master's use, who is as tender
of them as his own Children. On Sundays in the evening they converse with
their Wives, and drink Rum, or Bumbo, and smoak Tobacco, and the next Morning
return to their Master's Labour.
They are seldom made free, for fear of being burthensome to the Provinces, there being a Law, that no Master shall manumise them, unless he gives Security they shall not be thrown upon the Province, by settling Land on them for their Support,
Journey to Pennsylvania (1756)
GOTTLIEB
MITTELBERGER
When
the ships have landed at 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, and are released from the ships by their purchasers. The sick
always fare the worst, for the healthy are naturally preferred and purchased
first; and so the sick and wretched must often remain on board in front of the
city for 2 or 3 weeks, and frequently die, whereas many a one, if he could pay
his debt and were permitted to leave the ship immediately, might recover and
remain alive...
The
sale of human beings in the market on board the ship is carried on thus: Every
day Englishmen, Dutchmen and High-German people come from the city of
Philadelphia and other places, in part from a great distance, say 20,30, or
40 hours away, and go on board the newly arrived ship that has brought and
offers for sale passengers from Europe, and select among the healthy persons
such as they deem suitable for their business, and bargain with them how long
they will serve for their passage money, which most of them are still in debt
for. When they have come to an agreement, it happens that adult persons bind
themselves in writing to serve 3, 4, 5 or 6 years for the amount due by them,
according to their age and strength. But very young people, from 10 to 15 years,
must serve till they are 21 years old.
Many
parents must sell and trade away their children like so many head of cattle; for
if their children take the debt upon themselves, the parents can leave the ship
free and unrestrained; but as the parents often do not know where and to what
people their children are going, it often happens that such parents and
children, after leaving the ship, do not see each other again for many years,
perhaps no more in all their lives. ...
It
often happens that whole families, husband, wife, and children, are separated by
being sold to different purchasers, especially when they have not paid any part
of their passage money.
When
a husband or wife has died at sea, when the ship has made more than half of her
trip, the survivor must pay or serve not only for himself or herself, but also
for the deceased.
When
both parents have died over half-way at sea, their children, especially when
they are young and have nothing to pawn or to pay, must stand for their own and
their parents' passage, and serve till they are 21 years old. When one has
served 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 ...
If
some one in this country runs away from his master, who has treated him harshly,
he cannot get far. Good provision has been made for such cases, so that a
runaway is soon recovered. He who detains or returns a deserter receives a good
reward.
If
such a runaway has been away from his master one day, he must serve for it as a
punishment a week, for a week a month, and for a month half a year. But if the
master will not keep the runaway after he has got him back, he may sell him for
so many years as he would have to serve him yet....
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. Besides, there is not only the long and arduous journey lasting half a year, during which he has to suffer, more than with the hardest work; he has also spent about 200 florins which no one will refund to him. If he has so much money, it will slip out of his hands; if he has it not, he must work his debt off as a slave and poor serf. Therefore let every one stay in his own country and support himself and his family honestly. Besides I say that those who suffer themselves to be persuaded and enticed away by the man-thieves, are very foolish if they believe that roasted pigeons will fly into their mouths in America or Pennsylvania without their working for them.
Advertisement
for a Runaway (1759)
Germantown, July 18, 1759
Run away on the 13th of this Instant, at Night, from the Subscriber, of said Town, an Apprentice Lad, named Stophel, or Christopher Hergesheimer, about 19 Years of Age, by Trade a Blacksmith, middle sized of his Age, has a sour down-looking Countenance, is of Dutch Extraction, but can talk good English; Had on, and took with him, when he went away, a bluish Cloath Coat, green Nap Jacket, Snuff coloured Breeches, and Linen Jacket and Breeches, all about half wore, two pair of Ozenbrigs Trowsers, two Ditto Shirts, ,and one pretty fine, a Pair of old Shoes, a Pair of Thread, and a Pair of Cotton Stockings, a good Athlone Felt Hat, and yellowish Silk Handkerchief, wore his own dark brown short Hair, but may cut it off: He had a Hurt on the Inside of his Left-hand, not quite cured, at his going away. Whoever takes him up, and brings or conveys him to his Master, or secures him in the Jail of Philadelphia, shall have Forty Shillings Reward, and reasonable Charges, paid by Matthew Potter, junior.
[Source:
Pennsylvania Gazette, August 2, 1759]
American
Husbandry (1775)
THIS
country is peopled by as happy and free a set of men as any in America. 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. This is not
only a consequence of the plenty of land, and the rate of labour, but also of
the principles of the Quakers, who have a considerable share in the government
of the country. It is much to the honour of this sect that they support their
own poor in all countries, in a manner much more respectable than known in any
other religion.
There
are some country gentlemen in Pennsylvania, who live on their estates in a
genteel and expensive manner, but the number is but small. ... [M)oney is scarce
in this country, and all the necessaries and conveniences of life cheap, except
labour. But in general the province is inhabited by small freeholders, who live
upon a par with great farmers in England; and many little ones who have the
necessaries of life and nothing more.
In
the settled parts of the colony, there are few situations to be found that are
without such a neighbourhood as would satisfy country gentlemen of small
estates, or country parsons in Britain. There are, besides Philadelphia, many
small towns in which are found societies that render the country agreeable; and
the country itself is scattered with gentlemen at moderate distances, who have a
social intercourse with each other, besides occasional parties to Philadelphia.
The
most considerable of the freeholders that do not however rank with gentlemen,
are a set of very sensible, intelligent, and hospitable people, whose company,
in one that is mixed, improves rather than lessens the agreeableness of it; a
circumstance owing to many of them being foreigners, which even gives something
of a polish to the manners when we find ourselves in the midst of a country
principally inhabited by another people. The little freeholders (there are not
many farmers, except near Philadelphia) are in ease and circumstances much
superior to the little farmers in England.
The method of living in Pennsylvania in country gentlemen's families, is nearly like that of England: the only business is to ride about the plantation now and then, to see that the overseers are attentive to it; all the rest of the time is filled up with entertaining themselves; country sports, in the parts of the province not fully settled, are in great perfection; they have hunting, but their horses are unequal to those of England; shooting and fishing are much more followed, and are in greater perfection than in England, though every man is allowed both to shoot and fish throughout the province, except the latter in cultivated grounds. ...It must be at once apparent, that a given income would go much further here than in Britain; this is so strongly a truth, that an income of four or five hundred pounds a year, and a plantation, can hardly be spent without extravagance, or indulging some peculiar expence; whereas that income from an estate in Britain will hardly give a man the appearance of a gentleman...
[Source: " American Husbandry" as reprinted in Jack P. Greene. Settlements to Society (New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies. 1966)]
William
Penn on House Construction in Pennsylvania (1684)
...
I propose to speak my own Knowledg, and the Observation of others, as
particularly as I can; , , , This done, I take my two men, and go to my Lot, ..
and then go to felling of Trees, proper for a first House, which will very well
serve for the present occasion, and afterwards, be a good out House, till plenty
will allow me to build a Better.
To
build them, a House of thirty foot long and eighteen broad, with a partition
neer the middle, and an other to divide one end of the House into two small
Rooms, there must be eight Trees of about sixteen Inches square, and cut off, to
Posts of about fifteen foot long, which the House must stand upon; and
four pieces, two of thirty foot long, and two of eighteen foot long, for Plates,
which must lie upon the top of those Posts, the whole length and bredth of
the House, for the Gists (joists] to rest upon. There must be ten Gists
of twenty foot long, to bear the Loft, and two false Plates of thirty
foot long to lie upon the ends of the Gists for the Rafters to be
fixed upon, twelve pare of Rafters of about twenty foot, to bear the Roof
of the House, with several other smaller pieces; as Wind-Beams, Braces,
Studs, etc. which are made of the Waste Timber. For Covering the House,
Ends, and Sides, and for the Loft, we use Clabboard, which is Rived
feather-edged, of five foot and a half long, that well Drawn, lyes close and
smooth: The Lodging Room may be lined with the same, and filld up between, which
is very Warm. These houses usually endure ten years without Repair.
For the Carpenters work for such an House, I and my Servants assisting him, together with his diet - £ 07 00 00*
For a Barn of the same Building and Dimensions - £ 05 10 00
For
Nailes, and other things to finish Both - £ 03 10 00
The
lower flour is the Ground, the upper CIabbord: This may seem a
mean way of Building, but 'tis sufficient and safest for ordinary beginners.
*pounds,
shillings, pence
[Source:
Originally from William
Penn, Information and Direction to Such Persons as are inclined to America,
more Especially Those related to the Province of Pennsylvania (London. 1684)]