Today we look in depth at the arguments of Benjamin Franklin’s 1751 essay “Observations on the Increase of Mankind, etc.,” which looks at the dynamics of population growth, stagnation, and decline in different conditions, namely in the countryside, cities, old populated countries, and, especially, the New World.
This little eight-page essay is a goldmine of hardheaded demographic observations and imaginative projections, not only of the likely demographic trajectory, but of how this can transform economic and political conditions. The “Observations” were cited by Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus, and, via Malthus, seem to have influenced Charles Darwin.
Many of the insights—on the importance of economic security and ease of family formation, on the role of cities and status-striving as fertility depressers, and on population as a foundation for national power—still ring true in the very different societal and reproductive circumstances of today.
Enjoy!
Music credit: The Four Seasons (Vivaldi) by John Harrison with the Wichita State University Chamber Players (CC BY-SA).
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