Travels through the states of North America, and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, during the years 1795, 1796, and 1797 [Vol. 1 of 2]Weld, Isaac
History
Travels through the states of North America, and the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, during the years 1795, 1796, and 1797 [Vol. 1 of 2]
Weld, Isaac
Canada -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800; United States -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800
It is very certain, that were the lands granted in this manner, many
more people would annually emigrate into Canada from the United States
than at present; for there are numbers who come yearly into the country
to “explore it,” that return back solely because they cannot get lands
with an indisputable title; I have repeatedly met with these people
myself in Upper Canada, and have heard them express the utmost
disappointment at not being able to get lands on such terms even for
money; I have heard others in the States also speak to the same purport
after they had been in Canada; it is highly probable, moreover, that
many of the people, who leave Great Britain and Ireland for America,
would then be induced to settle in Canada instead of the United States,
and the British empire would not, in that case, lose, as it does now,
thousands of valuable citizens every year.
What are the general inducements, may here be asked, to people to quit
Great Britain for the United States? They have been summed up by Mr.
Cooper[39], in his letters published in 1794, on the subject of
emigrating to America; and we cannot have recourse, _on the whole_, to
better authority.
Footnote 39:
Mr. Cooper, late of Manchester, who emigrated to America with all his
family, and whose authority has been very generally quoted by the
Americans who have since written on the subject of emigration.
[Sidenote: OBSERVATIONS.]
“In my mind,” he says, “the first and principal inducement to a person
to quit England for America is, _the total absence of anxiety respecting
the future success of a family_. There is little fault to find with the
government of America, that is, of the United States, either in
principle or practice. There are few taxes to pay, and those are of
acknowledged necessity, and moderate in amount. There are no animosities
about religion, and it is a subject about which few questions are asked;
there are few respecting political men or political measures; the
present irritation of men’s minds in Great Britain, and the discordant
state of society on political accounts, is not known there. The
government is the government of the people, and for the people. There
are no tythes nor game laws; and excise laws upon spirits only, and
similar to the British only in name. There are no great men of rank, nor
many of great riches; nor have the rich the power of oppressing the less
rich, for poverty is almost unknown; nor are the streets crowded with
beggars. You see no where the disgusting and melancholy contrast, so
common in Europe, of vice and filth, and rags and wretchedness, in the
immediate neighbourhood of the most wanton extravagance, and the most
useless and luxurious parade; nor are the common people so depraved as
in Great Britain. Quarrels are uncommon, and boxing matches unknown in
the streets. There are no military to keep the people in awe. Robberies
are very rare. All these are real advantages; but great as they are,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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