ABSTRACT
During the eighteenth century it was a commonplace belief that there was a close relationship between power and population. Benjamin Franklin assessed the consequences of the burgeoning population of British North America, which doubled every generation, in his 1751 essay, “Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind” (document 2). The American population grew through natural increase and migration. Some people emigrated to British North America of their own volition, but many were compelled to do so either as slaves from Africa or as indentured servants from Europe. These involuntary migrants, whose labor was essential to the success of the colonies, were a restive element of the population, as evidenced by Robert Berverley’s description of servants and slaves in Virginia (document 3) and the advertisements for runaway servants and slaves (document 4) that were a constant feature of American newspapers during the colonial period.
