In the American Grain Chapter Summary & Analysis - Poor Richard Benjamin Franklin Summary

Poor Richard Benjamin Franklin Summary

The narrator, "Poor Richard," offers clarification to people considering moving to America by starting with a comment that some have "mistaken ideas and expectations of what is to be obtained there." He describes the misconceptions that hold are such: 1) Americans are rich and generous, especially regarding ingenuity, since they are ignorant of science, literature, and the arts and therefore will "reward" those well endowed with creativity; 2) there are many vacancies in higher offices, and that people "of birth" arriving to America can take over those offices; and, 3) that the American government so encourages emigration that it pays travel costs and gives away land, slaves, and cattle to these newcomers. He counters these "wild imaginations," explaining that while there are not so many poor people in America as there are in Europe, there are not so many so-called rich, either. Further, he adds, knowledge and creativity are highly...
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