Part 1

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ACHENWALL'S OBSERVATIONS

NORTH AMERICA

1767

TRANSLATED BY

J. G. ROSENGARTEN

Reprinted from the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, January, 1903

PHILADELPHIA 1903

ACHENWALL'S OBSERVATIONS ON NORTH AMERICA, 1767.

The most complete work on the British Colonies in North America is the Summary historical and political by William Douglas, of which the second improved edition was published in London, 1760, in two 8vo. volumes. That doctor collected material for many years and was in America, and gives valuable intelligence, especially of the Colonies he visited, but his book has no system. Prof. Kalm has much that is good in his travels in North America, and often cites Franklin, but did not altogether understand what he said, and Franklin never saw Kalm's book until he came across a German translation in Hanover.

The east coast of North America, where the British Colonies lie, is generally colder than the countries on the same stretch in Europe, nor has it been observed that owing to the decay of forests and cultivation the climate is becoming noticeably milder. Almost the whole eastern coast of North America is sandy, many little islands along the coast are sand banks, thrown up gradually by the sea. The coast of Florida is sandy and unfruitful, but the interior is good land. The native Indians consist of many small nations, each with its own language, quite different from that of their neighbors. They are all of one figure as if descended from a common ancestor,--all brown in color, with straight black hair, eyes all of one color, and all beardless, and they call Europeans the bearded nation. They live in the wilds, except a few that have been gathered in villages and are partly civilized. They live on plants and by hunting, without farms or cattle, chickens, horses etc.

Before the arrival of Europeans, their important plants were Turkish corn or maize; a sort of beans; tobacco. Maize and Tobacco are found only in America, and were brought from the new world to the old. Maize and Beans they cook and use bear fat in place of butter as dressing, but no salt. Smoking tobacco is an old custom, especially at their national gatherings. These three plants they look on as a special gift of heaven. According to an old tradition, an American found a handsome young woman sitting on a hill,--who in acknowledging a deep bow, said she came from above and at the end of a year would come again to the same hill. She was there again at that time, on her right hand Maize, on her left Beans, and on her lap Tobacco, and these three she left as a present for the American. Before Europeans brought them, there were no other grain or vegetables known than maize and beans, but all like the newcomers have increased wonderfully. The Spanish historian de Solis is altogether wrong in saying that Mexico at the time of the invasion, was a populous and mighty state. The Mexicans were savages, without art or knowledge, and how could they form a great state? They had neither farming nor cattle and could not find food for a large population nor had they any means of transportation. The weapons of the savages in North America are bows and arrows, and they shoot with the teeth of wild animals. They recognize some of the principles of natural law and observe them even with their enemies. They scalp usually only the dead,--then they cut it off with a sharp weapon and keep it as a sign of victory. Sometimes the victim comes to life,--some such are in Pennsylvania, for scalping is not necessarily mortal. They fight on foot, for they have no horses. The savages living in western Pennsylvania were called by the French Iroquois. The English call them the Five Nations or the Confederate Indians,--they are united and were so long before the English settled. The Mohawks first united with another nation and others joined later. Now there are seven altogether so united. They have their regular stated meetings and their great council considers the general good. The members are known only by their different languages. They are called subjects of the King, but they are not subject to British laws, and pay no taxes, but the Colonists give them a tribute of presents. Their number does not increase. Those living near the Europeans steadily diminish in numbers and strength. Their two sexes are of a cold nature,--the mothers live alone at and after the birth of children and during the years they suckle them,--often (owing to the absence of soft food) until their young can eat meat. Small pox and rum have played sad havoc among them.

The English settlements in North America have grown much more slowly than those in the West Indies, where they came about 1640, and in twenty years had flourishing Colonies, such as Barbadoes. In North America the Colonists came sixty years before, but at the end of the 17th Century were small in number and in exports. This is due to the rich production of the Sugar Islands, the absence of Indians, and the contraband trade with Spain. The North American Colonies have in the 18th Century greatly increased in population and wealth, far beyond the West India Islands.

Franklin in a book published in 1751 showed that the native born foreigners double every 25 years, in addition is the steady emigration, and some Colonies thus double their population in 18, some in 16, and some in 14 years. This will go on as long as there is plenty of farm land, and this increases largely with the acquisition of Canada and Louisiana. In 1750 there were a million, Douglas in his book estimated that in 1760 there were 1,051,000, besides blacks and soldiers,--on that basis in 1775 there will be 2 millions, and at the close of the 18th Century, 4 millions. To attract foreigners, an Act of Parliament granted English citizenship to every Protestant after seven years' residence, a right that in England can only be obtained with great expense and trouble by a special Act of Parliament. The Certificate of the Provincial authorities costs only a few shillings and is good through all England.

Near the coast and some miles beyond, all the Middle Colonies are settled, and new improvements are extending deeper in the interior. In Pennsylvania, where the Penn family own all the land, any one who wants to improve the land, chooses a piece, pays the landlord for 100 acres 10 Pound Sterling local money, and binds himself to pay an annual rent of half a penny for each acre,--he then becomes absolute owner, and the little ground rent can never be increased. Sometimes the hunter builds a wooden hut, and the nearest neighbors in the wilderness help cut the timber, build the log hut, fill the crevices with mud, put on the roof and put in windows and doors, and in return the owner pays them with a gallon of brandy, and by a like good service in turn. Then he lays out his garden and pasture and fields, cuts out the underbrush, tops the big trees and strips the bark, so that he can sow and reap, the trees die and hurt neither land nor crops. Many hunters have thus settled the wilderness,--they are soon followed by poor Scotch or Irish who are looking for homes,--these they find in this half improved condition,--they buy from the hunters, get a patent from the Proprietors, paying the usual charge. The hunter moves off into the wilderness and goes to work again. The Scotch or Irishman completes the half finished task, builds a better house of sawed timber, uses the old log hut for a stable, later builds a house of brick and his timber house is a good barn. Scotch and Irish often sell to the Germans, of whom from 90 to 100,000 live in Pennsylvania, and prefer to put all their earnings into land and improvements. The Scotch or Irish are satisfied with a fair profit, put the capital into another farm, leaving the Germans owners of the old farms. In Pennsylvania there is no law to prevent cutting up a farm into very small holdings nor to forbid the purchase of very large bodies of land. There is no danger from either course, for there is land enough for rich and poor, and the former prefer the larger profits from trade to the small return from land. In New England, unlike Pennsylvania, a good deal of land is let to farmers, for there are many rich owners of large estates,--this is so too in the Carolinas, and in other Colonies where owners of 10 or 20 or more thousands of acres bring settlers at their own expense to improve their land. Kalm mentions similar cases in New York.

When an owner of land dies intestate, and there are many children to inherit the father's farm, it is generally taken by the eldest son, and the younger children get in money their share of its appraised value,--the eldest son gets two shares, the other children only one apiece. The father of a large family takes from the Proprietary a large tract of land, which on his death can be divided among all his children. In New England improvement of the land is made in a more regular way than in Pennsylvania,--whole towns are laid out, and as soon as sixty families agree to build a church and support a Minister and a Schoolmaster, the Provincial government gives them the required privilege, carrying with it the right to elect two deputies to the Legislature, from the grant of 6 English square miles. Then the town or village is laid out in a square, with the church in the centre. The land is divided and each works his own, leaving however the forest in common, and with the privilege of laying out another village in time. In this way new settlements grow in New England in regular order and succession,--every new village touching on an old one, and all steadily increasing in wealth and numbers. Nothing of this kind is done in Pennsylvania, where the Proprietor wants only to sell land and as much as any one wants and wherever he likes. The mistake of this was shown in the Indian wars. On the border were scattered houses and farms, which could not help one another, and they were attacked singly, plundered and destroyed, and the ruined owners with their families took refuge with the older settlements, which became burthened with their care.

Blacks are found in Virginia, Maryland and the two Carolinas in large numbers, but very few in Pennsylvania and further north. In Pennsylvania, on principle they were prevented coming as much as possible, partly because there was no such hard work as they were fitted for in raising tobacco, rice and indigo. In Pennsylvania, every negro must pay a tax of 10 pounds sterling and this the master who brings him must pay. These negroes are protected by law in all the Colonies, as much as free men. A Colonist, even if he is the owner, who kills a blackman, is instantly sentenced to death,--if he overworks or ill treats his slave, the latter can complain to the judge. Then in their own interest the masters are obliged not to give their slaves excessive tasks or insufficient food, for their death is a loss. The negro slaves have all the general rights of humanity except freedom and property, neither of which they possess.

The free in the Colonies are of two kinds, the one servant and maid, bound for a half or a whole year, and the term ends by mutual agreement. The other class consists of poor Scotch, Irish and Germans, who to get to America come without paying their passage, and the ship captain finds them a master who pays it and thus secures their service for food and lodging and clothing, without pay, but only for a term of years, never for life. Sometimes a father sells the services of his children to a master, who must teach them some useful trade, farming, carpentering, cooking. This lasts until majority,--with boys at 21, with girls at 18, and in some cases for 8 years, but not longer. Then the children are by law free, and their master is bound to give them the needful articles for housekeeping, a cow, farming implements, tools etc. In this way all poor children have the hope of establishing themselves on their majority in freedom. The poor fathers find their comfort in this expectation, are relieved of the care of their children in the interval, and know that they are learning something useful and will start out in life with money in hand without having to pay anything to the master. The masters in turn are satisfied with the cheap service. This law has been introduced to cure the old need of servants and apprentices.

There is a special class of servants in the Colonies, between peasants and slaves, those transported from Great Britain for certain crimes for from 7 to 14 years. It is an exile from Great Britain under penalty of prison in case of return. Such an offender is sold by the Courts to a Ship's Captain who takes him to the Colonies and sells him as a slave for a limited period. That over he is free. Formerly such servants were welcomed on account of the demand for laborers, but now they are no longer needed in the populous Colonies, they remain worthless and are soon sent to prison for fresh offences.

The constitutions of the British Colonies differ according to the original grants, 1st Royal, 2nd Proprietary, 3rd Charter Governments, and the British Parliamentary Statutes call them Plantations under Proprietors, under Charters, under his majesty's immediate commission, Stat. 6 Anne, cap. 30, sec. 2. The 1st class are arranged strictly according to the British Constitution, with a Governor, who represents the King, and two legislative branches, 1st the Council, called the Royal Council, 2nd Representatives of towns or counties, belonging to one Colony, these two are like the two houses of the British Parliament, and the Council is called the Upper House, and the body of representatives of the people the Lower House. In these three branches are vested the law making powers of the Colony, but subject to the Crown, hence united they are called the Assembly, although that is popularly limited to the two Houses and often to the Lower or popular House. The King appoints the Governor and recalls him at pleasure. The Council also consists of royal officials dependent on the King as to terms and nature of appointment, but generally selected from the principal persons of the Colony, legal, financial and military officers. Governor and Councillors have fixed salaries and certain fees, the Governor a large fixed salary, provided in advance by the Colonies, thus the Governor of Barbadoes has £2000, the Governor of Virginia £1000. The popular representatives are elected annually and receive a fixed per diem allowance. They look after the rights and privileges of the people, just as do the Council and the Governor after those of the Crown. Every measure approved by the three bodies becomes a law, but only provisionally, for it must be sent to the King for approval, but if not vetoed within three years, it is final. This is the usual rule for Colonial governments, (with some local exceptions) in all the West India Islands, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, both Carolinas, New Georgia, New Scotland, New Hampshire, and I believe Quebec, East and West Florida, and the newly acquired Caribbean Islands, and the English consider it the best way of securing the rights of the Mother Country, that is, Great Britain. The 2nd class is that of hereditary Proprietors, such as those of Pennsylvania and Maryland. In the former the English family of Penn, in the latter the Irish Lords Baltimore are the hereditary Proprietors and Governors, as over lords they draw a certain income from all the Colonists in proportion to their land, and all improved land is sold at a fixed price. Both tax and price are low, but the growth of both Colonies has made both families rich. Lord Baltimore has the right of patron of all churches in Maryland. As hereditary Proprietors both appoint their Lieutenant Governors, who are confirmed by the King, and reside in the Provinces. In both Colonies there are Assemblies,--that in Maryland consists of the Council and the House of Commons, and subject to the right of the Proprietor, has the same jurisdiction as that of any other Colony.

The third kind of government is the Chartered or Free government. This is nearest a Democracy, and is less dependent on the Crown. This form of constitution exists in the three Colonies of New England, completely in Connecticut and Rhode Island,--in Massachusetts with certain restrictions. The two first named Colonies have the right to elect all their own officers, including the Governor and Council, and to make all needful laws without royal approval, nor can the decisions of their Courts be appealed from. In Rhode Island even the ministers of the Churches can be removed at the end of a year, so that they hold office only for one year's salary.

Massachusetts Bay formerly had these popular rights, but owing to abuses their former privileges and freedom were repealed by the King's Bench under Charles the Second, and only partly restored by a new Charter from William the Third. Since then the King appoints the Governor and the chief law and treasury and all military officers. The representatives have the right to elect Councillors, but subject to a negative veto of the Governor. This election in Massachusetts as well as in Connecticut and Rhode Island, is made by both Houses, annually, because the members of the Council hold office only for a year.

Laws passed by the Assembly must have royal approval, and in cases involving over £300, there is an appeal to the Privy Council in London.

The Governor of Massachusetts has no fixed salary, but it is fixed every year by the Assembly. (Kalm says this is so in New York also.) He must therefore be popular with the Assembly or the King will replace him by another likely to be so. This uncertain tenure is unpopular in Europe because it affects unfavorably the interests of the Colony and makes that of Great Britain dependent on the Colony. The Colonists answer that a fixed salary would enable the Governor to live abroad and send only a Lieutenant Governor as substitute.

Pennsylvania has its own Constitution. Penn as Proprietor draws a revenue of a half penny sterling local currency for every acre of improved land, and every purchaser of wild land can buy a hundred acres for £10 and the usual quit rent. As Proprietor he sends a Deputy, whom he pays, and appoints all Judges, but ministers are chosen by their own congregations in every County. The meeting of the Pennsylvania Legislature consists of only one House, (because there is no Council) made up of representatives of the various Counties. These are elected annually October 1, each County holding its own meetings for the purpose,--every inhabitant worth £50, resident for 12 years, has a vote,--these meetings elect 8 Deputies to the Assembly,--every elector is eligible, but mostly well to do citizens are elected. The County gives its representatives six shillings a day, but the Deputies have to spend more out of their own pockets. There is no bribery. Every voter deposits a written ballot, and the persons who have the highest number are declared elected. The purchase of votes would be very unsafe, as the voter could always write another name on his ballot. This House with the Lieutenant Governor is the law making power. The Governor however depends on the Assembly for his salary, as he has no fixed allowance, which is voted only from year to year, and if he displeases the Assembly, it votes him no salary for the next year. The Assembly has been for six years on bad terms with the Proprietor and has made no grant for the Governor. The Assembly wants the Proprietor to pay tax on his property especially towards the extraordinary war expenses. The decision rests with the King in Council, but if the Assembly appealed, it would be sent to the King's Bench. The fact that all Judges are appointed by the Proprietor, makes difficulties, as he is in his own cases both Judge and Plaintiff. The newer Colonies have institutions based on Acts of Parliament for New Georgia, New Scotland, &c., but the older Colonies have Charters from the King, and not from Parliament. These Colonies claim to be subject to the King, but not to Parliament, at least not to its arbitrary power, like the newer Colonies, which owe their existence to Parliament. The latter are called Plantations within his Majesty's Dominions, the former his Majesty's Plantations.

The legal institutions of the Colonies are based on those of England, for these are part of the Englishman's rights. All personal relations are controlled by Statute Law and Common Law. Roman Law is recognized only in Courts of Admiralty. The light of trial by a Jury of twelve men is recognized just as in England. It was one of the grounds of complaint against the Stamp Act, that questions arising under it were not tried by Jury, but by courts specially created.

Most of the Colonists of English descent are Presbyterians. There is not one Bishop of the Established Church in America, although there are many parishes belonging to it. These are all under the Bishop of London, and every one of their clergymen must be examined and ordained in England, at a cost of at least £40 to £50, but their stay in England helps their education. As the Bishops have spiritual jurisdiction, there are no ecclesiastical Courts in the Colonies, and matters pertaining to them are settled partly by local Courts, partly by the Assemblies. The spiritual Lords may have proposed to send a Bishop to America, but since the time of Charles the First, that title has been greatly disliked in the Colonies. Catholic Churches are found in Pennsylvania as well as in Maryland, in the former because freedom of religion is universal, in the latter because the Baltimore family, the Proprietors, were formerly Catholics,--none are found in the other Colonies. There are Jews in Pennsylvania and New York,--in the latter there is a Synagogue, in the former only Schools. Pennsylvania is preeminent for the entire religious equality or toleration, under which it has increased in population and wealth. Roman Catholics are however excluded from all offices and from the Assembly, because they cannot take the usual religious oath and subscribe under the test act. This oath must be taken here as well as in England, as well as that against the Pretender. All other Protestant faiths enable the members to hold office. For education in science there has long been a high school in Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, and there is another founded in 1749 in Philadelphia, the capital of Pennsylvania. Franklin proposed and founded it. The money was raised partly by subscription, partly by Provincial grants. Most of the endowment consists of land, not very productive, but of value hereafter. This University has a President with £250 salary, and four Professors,--two with £200, two with £150, besides fees for private instruction. There is no College and therefore no lodging built yet. It has the right to confer degrees. In 1764 a Medical School was added, and it will no doubt have the power to confer degrees. There is no Law School yet and it is not likely there will ever be one of Theology. The University was chartered by the Assembly for the good of the Colony, but as there are so many religious faiths all enjoying perfect equality, it is enough if the scholars are taught their religious tenets in their own schools with those of their own faith, while Theology is excluded.

Farming, stockraising and fisheries nourish in all the North American Colonies, and the forests supply all that is needed for fuel and industry. Grapes are successfully cultivated in North America and wild grape vines are found in some forests. The cheap wines from Canary interfere with the production. Silk can be cultivated and mulberry trees grow as far north as New England. Cod fishing is more valuable than a silver mine, for it trains up good sailors and helps many industries. New England, New Scotland and New Foundland are most largely interested in it. Colonists have the same fishing rights in these waters as Englishmen. The largest market is Spain and Portugal. These Catholic countries are large consumers, and the fishermen often bless the Pope.