Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania
There
was a time when the Farmer from
Pennsylvania was the most widely read celebrity in the
colonies. His letters, twelve in all, began appearing in
the "Pennsylvania Chronicle & Universal Advertiser" in
December 1767, and continued through February, 1768. They
were reprinted in every newspaper in the colonies, and, in
March, 1768, they were put together in pamphlet form. Due
to Benjamin Franklin's efforts, the letters were circulated
extensively in London and Paris. Many town meetings voted
their thanks to the "farmer" for his cogent arguments, and
he was in demand as a speaker at public dinners. Numerous
articles, and even poems, were written in his praise. What
made his letters so popular?
Dickinson was not a farmer. He was a prominent
Philadelphia lawyer, and the letters offered his own firm
but conservative solution to the widening conflict between
Britain and her colonies. The prosperity of the colonies,
he declared, depended upon their continued association with
the parent country. He saw few circumstances that would
justify open hostilities. He was particularly effective in
his arguments concerning British taxation. Writing in
response to the uproar caused by the passage of the T
ownshend Duties, Dickinson distinguished between taxation
for revenue and taxation for the regulation of trade -- and
the latter, he concluded, was not the same, and was,
therefore, justifiable. Though a fine distinction, perhaps,
it solved a problem for many colonials who were opposed to
being taxed by any outside government, yet were fiercely
loyal to England. The letters, then, offered an alternative
- and a popular one - between "taxation without
representation" and independence.
After the battles at Lexington and Concord,
events altered the "farmer's" appeal, and he gradually lost
favor. Dickinson, however, remained true to his principles.
As a member of the Continental Congress, he refused to sign
the Declaration of Independence. Later, he did support the
Constitution, and wrote a series of letters favoring its
ratification.
What are the Farmer's arguments for maintaining
the bonds between the colonies and Britain? How relevant
are they in comparison with those in Thomas Paine's "Common
Sense"?
Letters I & III
My Beloved Countrymen:
I am a Farmer, settled after a variety of
fortunes, near the banks of the river Delaware, in the
province of Pennsylvania. I received a liberal education,
and have been engaged in the busy scenes of life. But I am
now convinced that a man may be as happy without bustle, as
with it. My farm is small; my servants are few, and good; I
have a little money at interest, and I wish for no more. My
employment in my own affairs is easy; and with a contented
grateful mind, I am completing the number of days allotted
to me by divine goodness.
Sorry I am to learn, that there are some few
persons, who shake their heads with solemn motion and
pretend to wonder, what can be the meaning of these letters.
"Great Britain," they say, " is too powerful to contend
with. She is determined to oppress us. It is in vain to
speak of right on one side, when there is power on the
other. When we are strong enough to resist, we shall
attempt it; but now we are not strong enough, and,
therefore, we had better be quiet.
Are these men ignorant that usurpations which
might have been successfully opposed at first, acquire
strength by continuance, and thus become irresistible? Do
they condemn the conduct of the colonies concerning the
Stamp Act? Or have they forgot its successful conclusion?
Ought the colonies at that time, instead of acting as they
did, to have trusted for relief to good fortune? If the
behavior of the colonies was prudent and glorious then, and
successful, too, it will be equally prudent and glorious to
act in the same manner now, if our rights are equally
invaded. But, it becomes necessary to inquire, whether "our
rights are invaded." To talk of "defending" them, as if
they could not otherwise be "defended" than by arms, is as
much out of the way as if a man, having a choice of several
roads to make his journey, should prefer the worst, for no
other reason but because it is the worst.
As to "riots and tumults", the gentlemen who are
so apprehensive of them, are much mistaken if they think
that grievances cannot be redressed without them.
I will now tell the gentlemen what is "the
meaning of these letters". The meaning of them is, to
convince the people of these colonies that they are, at this
moment, exposed to the most imminent dangers; and to
persuade them immediately, vigorously, and unanimously to
exert themselves, in the most firm, and most peaceable
manner, for obtaining relief.
The cause of liberty is a "cause of too much
dignity, to be sullied by turbulence and tumults." Liberty
ought to be maintained in a manner suitable to her nature.
I hope, my dear countrymen, that you will, in
every colony, be upon your guard against those who may at
any time endeavor to stir you up, under pretenses of
patriotism, to any measures disrespectful to our sovereign
and our mother country. Hot, rash, disorderly proceedings
injure the reputation of a people as to wisdom, valor, and
virtue, without procuring them the least benefit.
Every government, at some time or other, falls
into wrong measures, and these may proceed from mistake or
passion. But every such measure does not dissolve the
obligation between the governors and the governed. The
mistake may be corrected; the passion may pass over. It is
the duty of the governed to endeavor to rectify the mistake,
and to appease the passion. They have not, at first, any
other right than to represent their grievances, and to pray
for redress, unless an emergency is so pressing as not to
allow time for receiving an answer to their applications,
which rarely happens. If their applications are
disregarded, then that kind of opposition becomes
justifiable. Harsh methods cannot be proper till milder
ones have failed.
What particular circumstances will, in any future
case, justify such resistance, can never be ascertained till
they happen. Perhaps it may be allowable to say, generally,
that it never can be justifiable, until the people are FULLY
CONVINCED, that any further submission will be destructive
to their happiness. When the appeal is made to the sword,
highly probable is it, that the punishment will exceed the
offence; and the calamities attending on war outweigh those
preceding it.
It remains to be added that resistance of
colonies against their mother country is extremely different
from the resistance of a people against their prince. A
nation may change their kings, and retain their form of
government. But if once we are separated from our mother
country, what new form of government shall we accept, or
where shall we find another Britain to supply our loss?
Torn from the body to which we are united by religion,
liberty, laws, affections, relations, language and commerce,
we must bleed at every vein.
We cannot act with too much caution in our
disputes. Anger produces anger. In quarrels between
countries, as well as in those between individuals, when
they have risen to a certain height, the first cause of
dissention is no longer remembered, the minds of the parties
being wholly engaged in recollecting and resenting the
mutual expressions of their dislike. When feuds have
reached that fatal point, all considerations of reason and
equity vanish; and a blind fury governs and confounds all
things.
The constitutional modes of obtaining relief are
those which I would wish to see pursued on the present
occasion; that is, by petitions of our Assemblies, or, where
they are not permitted to meet, by petitions of the people,
to the powers that can afford us relief.
We have an excellent prince, in whose good
dispositions toward us we may confide. Great Britain is a
generous, sensible and humane nation, to whom we many apply.
They may be deceived. They may, by artful men, be provoked
to anger against us; but I cannot yet believe they will be
cruel or unjust, or that their anger will be implacable.
Let us behave like dutiful children, who have received
unmerited blows from a beloved parent. Let us complain to
our parents; but let our complaints speak at the same time,
the language of devotion and respect.
A Farmer
1767
*From The Writings of John Dickinson, vol. 1,
Paul Leicester Ford, ed. The Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, (Philadelphia: 1895), pp. 279-406.
Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania*
Return
to Study Guide #1
Revised
September 1, 2003
by Tom Gallup, e-mail address: [email protected]
West Valley College
http://www.westvalley.edu/wvc/ss/gallup/gallup.html