Information To Those Who Would Remove To America
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Information to those who would remove to America
By: Benjamin Franklin
At a time of hardship and human progression in North America especially in the 1700’s one name specifically shines out amongst all others. That name is Benjamin Franklin; a visionary inventor, politician, and true American hero.
In the late 1700’s, precisely 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote an informative essay titled, Information to Those Who Would Remove to America. It was printed out as a pamphlet for people in Europe to clarify the endless rumors about America being the land of dreams and fantasy. He clearly states what’s needed and wanted in America, and what’s not welcomed there. The essay also shows us how American culture is portrayed and what they hold highly as opposed to what Europe sees.
There were four main rumors that basically struck a chord within Franklin; to the point where he thought enough is enough, these false accusations must come to an end, this is where this informative essay came into play.
�Inhabitants of North-America are rich, capable or rewarding, and dispos’d to reward all sorts of Ingenuity; that they are at the same time ignorant of all the Sciences;’
One of the rumors spreading around Europe was that Americans were very rich, wealthy and possessed many materialistic goods; while at the same time they were ignorant. That was false, later on we can see that Franklin mentions that America has nine colleges or universities spread throughout the country, as opposed to England’s four colleges in New England.
�& consequently that strangers possessing Talents in the Belles-Letters, fine Arts, etc. must be highly esteemed, and so well paid as to become easily rich themselves;’
The second rumor was to acknowledge that America didn’t need artists and people who wrote literature, and that if they do move over they wouldn’t be held up on a pedestal. We can see that Franklin is stressing the fact that they need people who can work and that can be an asset to society, and an emphasis on how aesthetic beauty isn’t part of their culture; but practicality is.
�Strangers of Birth must be greatly respected, and of course easily obtain the best of those Offices’ and �Of civil Offices or Employments there are few; no superfluous Ones as in Europe;’
The third rumor was to put to rest, the fact that you were born into nobility, doesn’t mean we’ll hire you to work in our government. Also, there were so many offices in America waiting to be filled — this was false. In a way, Franklin was almost mocking the Europeans on how they have so many people doing useless things, and not just have a few good men doing the country’s job.
�But give land gratis to Strangers, with Negroes to work for them, Utensils of Husbandry, & Stocks of Cattle.’
Finally, many people in Europe believed that if you were to move to America, the government will give you land, free transportation from Europe to America, negroes that will work for you, and farming needs such as tools and livestock. It was a firm belief in America that hard work was valued, perhaps that was something passed on from the Puritans. People who migrated there had to work hard, it wasn’t