CHAPTER III

LABOR, EXCHANGE, AND POPULATION, 1607-1763

LABOR

I. SCARCITY OF LABOR

A. High Wages in Pennsylvania, 1698 1

Owing to the large extent of practically free land in the colonies and the ease with which an industrious man could establish himself as an independent farmer, very few persons were content to remain as hired laborers. Hence labor

that is hired labor was scarce throughout the whole of the colonial period, and wages were high. Wages were high both because labor was scarce, and also because it was very productive and the employer could afford to pay high wages. The writer was for seventeen years a resident of a Quaker settlement.

Labouring-Men have commonly here [Pennsylvania], between 14 and 15 Pounds a Year, and their Meat, Drink, Washing and Lodging; and by the Day their Wages is generally between Eighteen Pence and Half a Crown, and Diet also; But in Harvest they have usually between Three and Four Shillings each Day, and Diet. The Maid Servants Wages is commonly betwixt Six and Ten Pounds per Annum, with very good Accommodation. And for the Women who get their Livelihood by their own Industry, their Labour is very dear, for I can buy in London a Cheese-Cake for Two Pence, bigger than theirs at that price when at the same time their Milk is as cheap as we can buy it in London, and their Flour cheaper by one half.

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,

1 An Historical and Geographical Account of the Province and Country of Pensil vania (London, 1698). By Gabriel Thomas. In Original Narratives of Early American History. Edited by J. F. Jameson (New York, 1910), XIII, 328-9. Printed by permission of the editor and the publishers, Charles Scribner's Sons.

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 the richest Land they have.

In the Second place, they have constantly good price for their Corn by reason of the great and quick vent into Barbadoes and other Islands; through which means Silver is become more plentiful than here in England, considering the Number of People, and that causes a quick Trade for both Corn and Cattle; and that is the reason that Corn differs now 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 compas of one Week about One Hundred and Twenty fat Beasts, most of them good handsom large Oxen.

Thirdly, They pay no Tithes, and their Taxes are inconsiderable; the Place is free for all Persuasions, in a Sober and Civil way; for the Church of England and the Quakers bear equal Share in the Government. They live Friendly and Well together; there is no Persecution for Religion, nor ever like to be; 'tis this that knocks all Commerce on the Head, together with high Imposts, strict Laws, and cramping Orders. Before I end this Paragraph, I shall add another Reason why Womens Wages are so exhorbitant; they are not yet very numerous, which makes them stand upon high Terms for their several Services, in Sempstering, Washing, Spinning, Knitting, Sewing, and in all the other parts of their Imployments; for they have for Spinning either Worsted or Linen, Two Shillings a Pound, and commonly for Knitting a very Course pair of Yarn Stockings, they have half a Crown a pair; moreover they are usually Marry'd before they are Twenty Years of Age, and when once in that Noose, are for the most part a little uneasie, and make their Husbands so too, till they procure them a Maid Servant to bear the burden of the Work, as also in some measure to wait on them too.

B. High Wages in New England, 1775

1

After one hundred and fifty years of colonization the same complaint of scarcity of labor and high wages was still heard as at the beginning. High wages have

1 American Husbandry. By an American (London, 1775), I, 73.

always been characteristic of the United States for the reason that the laborer has at least until the last generation had an economic alternative: he had the choice of working for wages or of farming practically free land on his own account. Hence wages had to be at least as high as the return an independent farmer could gain for himself from his land, which on the new lands of the colonial period was considerable.

I have more than once mentioned the high price of labour: this article depends on the circumstance I have now named; where families are so far from being burdensome, men marry very young, and where land is in such plenty, men very soon become farmers, however low they set out in life. Where this is the case, it must at once be evident that the price of labour must be very dear; nothing but a high price will induce men to labour at all, and at the same time it presently puts a conclusion to it by so soon enabling them to take a piece of waste land. By day labourers, which are not common in the colonies, one shilling will do as much in England as half a crown in New England. This makes it necessary to depend principally on [indented] servants, and on labourers who article themselves to serve three, five, or seven years, which is always the case with newcomers who are in poverty.

At least two factors which an employer of labor must count upon are sufficiency and permanency. But there were not enough free hired laborers in the colonies to do the work, nor could an employer count upon retaining these laborers for any definite length of time. Hence some form of compulsory labor was eagerly resorted to, and both indented servants and slaves were made use of. The terms of the former ran for a short period and the control of the master was not so absolute, but the purchase of a slave involved the outlay of a considerable sum of money. Free laborers were more common in New England, indented servants in the middle colonies and Maryland, and slaves in the South. Kalm gives a careful account of these three classes of labor.

The servants which are made use of in the English American colonies are either free persons, or slaves, and the former are again of two different sorts.

First, Those who are quite free serve by the year; they are not only allowed to leave their service at the expiration of their year, but may leave it at any time when they do not agree with their However, in that case they are in danger of losing their

1 Travels into North America. By Peter Kalm (London, 1770). In Pinkerton, Voyages and Travels, XIII, 499-502.

wages, which are very considerable. A man-servant who has some abilities, gets between sixteen and twenty pounds in Pennsylvania currency, but those in the country do not get so much. A servantmaid gets eight or ten pounds a year: these servants have their food besides their wages, but must buy their own clothes, and what they get of these, they must thank their master's goodness for.

Second, The second kind of free servants consist of such persons as annually come from Germany, England, and other countries, in order to settle here. These new comers are very numerous every year: there are old and young ones, and of both sexes; some of them have fled from oppression, under which they supposed themselves to have laboured. Others have been driven from their country by persecution on account of religion; but most of them are poor, and have not money enough to pay their passage, which is between six and eight pounds sterling for each person; therefore they agree with the captain that they will suffer themselves to be sold for a few years, on their arrival. In that case the person who buys them, pays the freight for them; but frequently very old people come over, who cannot pay their passage, they therefore sell their children, so that they serve both for themselves and for their parents: there are likewise some who pay part of their passage, and they are sold only for a short time. From these circumstances, it appears, that the price of the poor foreigners who come over to North America is not equal, and that some of them serve longer than others: when their time is expired, they get a new suit of clothes from their master, and some other things: he is likewise obliged to feed and clothe them during the years of their servitude. Many of the Germans who come hither, bring money enough with them to pay their passage, but rather suffer themselves to be sold, with a view, that during their servitude they may get some knowledge of the language and quality of the country, and the like, that they may the better be able to consider what they shall do when they have got their liberty. Such servants are taken preferable to all others, because they are not so dear; for to buy a negroe or black slave requires too much money at once; and men or maids who get yearly wages, are likewise too dear; but this kind of servants may be got for half the money, and even for less; for they commonly pay fourteen pounds, Pensylvania currency, for a person who is to serve four years, and so on in proportion. Their wages therefore are not above three pounds Pensylvania currency, per annum. This kind of servants, the English call servings. When a person has bought such a servant

for a certain number of years, and has an intention to sell him again, he is at liberty to do so; but he is obliged, at the expiration of the term of servitude, to provide the usual suit of cloaths for the servant, unless he has made that part of the bargain with the purchaser. The English and Irish commonly sell themselves for four years, but the Germans frequently agree with the captain before they set out, to pay him a certain sum of money, for a certain number of persons; as soon as they arrive in America, they go about and try to get a man who will pay the passage for them: in return they give according to the circumstances, one or several of their children, to serve a certain number of years: at last they make their bargain with the highest bidder.

Third, The negroes or blacks make the third kind. They are in a manner slaves; for when a negro is once bought, he is the purchaser's servant as long as he lives, unless he gives him to another, or makes him free. However, it is not in the power of the master to kill his negro for a fault, but he must leave it to the magistrates to proceed according to the laws. Formerly the negroes were brought over from Africa, and bought by almost every one who could afford it. The quakers alone scrupled to have slaves; but they are no longer so nice, and they have as many negroes as other people. However, many people cannot conquer the idea of its being contrary to the laws of Christianity to keep slaves. There are likewise several free negroes in town, who have been lucky enough to get a very zealous quaker for their master, who gave them their liberty, after they had faithfully served him for some time.

At present they seldom bring over any negroes to the English colonies, for those which were formerly brought thither, have multiplied considerably. . . .

The negroes were formerly brought from Africa, as I mentioned before; but now this seldom happens, for they are bought in the West Indies, or American Islands, whither they were originally brought from their own country: for it has been found that on transporting the negroes from Africa, immediately into these northern countries, they have not such a good state of health, as when they gradually change places, and are first carried from Africa to the West Indies, and from thence to North America. It has frequently been found, that the negroes cannot stand the cold here so well as the Europeans or whites; for whilst the latter are not in the least affected by the cold, the toes and fingers of the former are frequently frozen. There is likewise a material difference among them in this point;