Pennsylvania "the poor man's Paradise"

When William Penn founded Pennsylvania, his original intentions were for it to be a religious haven for English Quakers. One of these English Quakers to settle in Pennsylvania was Gabriel Thomas. As an early settler, he describes the extensive reasons to why many English came to the New World and the West Indies. Living in America was like paradise for a poor man. The resources were bountiful while the trade was tremendous. The discomfort one faced passing over the Atlantic to land in the New World dissolves because the difficulty was worth it all. The wages in the colonies were estimated to three time more than the wages in England. On top of that, the cost of land was far in comparison to the cost of land in England. Land was plentiful therefore cheaper. Thomas explains that the price of corn was more valuable for trade than Silver. The value of things seen in England as nothing helped the colonist become prosperous. With the Church of England and the Quakers having equality in government, colonist did not have to pay tithes and they lived in a society that allowed religious freedom. One of the most unbelieveable points Thomas does not fail to mention, is that due to the scarcity or women, Women’s wages are considerably high for their services. Washing, spinning, sewing were task performed by women during that time. Gabriel Thomas ends with compassion and sympathy of those poor men and women still back in England. Employment and opportunities being so ample in America, it is difficult to ever see a beggar on the streets. Gabriel Thomas shared a very truthful illustration of “the poor man’s Paradise.” Pennsylvania being one of the first colonies proprietary colonies to be successful, it is no doubt that life there for an English settler was more than anyone could hope for. Everyone had an equal chance in Pennsylvania because of religious freedom, regularity in trade, as well as William Penn’s brilliant idea of inviting other european countries to settle there.