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Collection Reference Number GLC06065
From Archive Folder Documents Relating to 1754-1764 
Title The interests of Great Britain considered...[with]Observations on the Increase…
Date 1760
Author Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790)  
Document Type Book
Content Description [title continued] "... with regard to her colonies, and the Acquisitions of Canada and Guadeloupe, to which are added, observations concerning the increase of mankind, peopling of countries, etc." Printed by T. Beckett. 8vo. Franklin argues for the retention of Canada to safeguard the British colonies on the mainland, rather than more wealthy lands like Guadeloupe. Franklin's "Observations on the Increase of Mankind" first mentioned the doubling of America's population that Thomas Malthus used for his "Essay on Population." Sabin 35450, Lande 254, JCB 1:1253 and Ford 268.
Subjects French and Indian War  Global History and Civics  Foreign Affairs  Canada  Latin and South America  Government and Civics  
People Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790)  Jackson, Richard (1722-1787)  
Place written London, England
Theme French & Indian Wars; Foreign Affairs; Government & Politics
Sub-collection The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859
Additional Information Signer of the U.S. Constitution. Perhaps the most important essay written by an American during the eighteenth century, Franklin's "Observations Concerning the Increase of mankind" was one of the first serious studies of demography. In the early nineteenth century it would serve as an inspiration for Thomas Malthus (1766-1834), who based his grim law of population (that population would inevitably outstrip the food supply) on Franklin's calculations. But Franklin's argument was, in fact, quite different from Malthus's bleak prophesy. Franklin, like other Americans as late as Lincoln, held to a belief that no man in America needed to long remain a laborer for others. Despite the doubling of the population in every twenty years or so, America remained a land of opportunity, where wages remained high and even slaves were expensive. What is perhaps most striking about Franklin's essay today is his sophisticated use of "social science" data to convince the British ministry to alter its colonial policies. Particularly jarring, however, is Franklin's plea that America be maintained as an entirely Anglo-Saxon society.
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859
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