Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania

Letters from a farmer in Pennsylvania, to the inhabitants of the British Colonies
Frontispiece and title page of a 1903 reprint of the letters
AuthorJohn Dickinson
LanguageEnglish
PublishedDecember 1767 – April 1768
Publication placeBritish Empire
TextLetters from a farmer in Pennsylvania, to the inhabitants of the British Colonies at Wikisource

Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania is a series of essays written by the Pennsylvania lawyer and legislator John Dickinson (1732–1808) and published under the pseudonym "A Farmer" from 1767 to 1768. The twelve letters were widely read and reprinted throughout the Thirteen Colonies, and were important in uniting the colonists against the Townshend Acts in the run-up to the American Revolution. According to many historians, the impact of the Letters on the colonies was unmatched until the publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense in 1776.[1] The success of the letters earned Dickinson considerable fame.[2]

The twelve letters are written in the voice of a fictional farmer, who is described as modest but learned, an American Cincinnatus, and the text is laid out in a highly organized pattern "along the lines of ancient rhetoric".[3] The letters laid out a clear constitutional argument, that the British Parliament had the authority to regulate colonial trade but not to raise revenue from the colonies. This view became the basis for subsequent colonial opposition to the Townshend Acts,[4] and was influential in the development of colonial thinking about the relationship with Britain.[5]: 215–216  The letters are noted for their mild tone, and urged the colonists to seek redress within the British constitutional system.[1][6] The character of "the farmer", a persona built on English pastoral writings whose style American writers before Dickinson also adopted, gained a reputation independent of Dickinson, and became a symbol of moral virtue, employed in many subsequent American political writings.[4]

  1. ^ a b Middlekauff, Robert (2007) [1982]. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (revised ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 160–162. ISBN 9780199740925.
  2. ^ Johannesen, Stanley K. (1975). "John Dickinson and the American Revolution". Historical Reflections. 2 (1): 29–49. JSTOR 41298658.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Marambaud was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Kaestle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ideological-Origins was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference R_A_Ferguson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).