Document Type

Article

Article Version

Publisher's PDF

Publication Date

12-1991

Abstract

There is a riddle in Franklin's treatment of population. He maintained that the tendency of populations to expand until checked by the lack of subsistence was a cause of European miseries, yet be advocated rapid population growth for the American colonies. When his population theory is highlighted, he appears as a Malthusian pessimist; when his population values are highlighted, he appears as an ardent expansionist. The contradictory elements in his writings are brought into accord by viewing them as the response of a generation to the distinctive situation it encountered. Franklin is assessed to be an advocate who shaped population theory to further the policy agenda of mid-eighteenth-century Americans. It is suggested that such a policy influence on theory is not unique to Franklin or his contemporaries.

Comments

Archived with permission from the copyright holder.

Copyright 1991 Wiley and Population Council.

Link to the journal homepage: (http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padr)

Publication Title

Population and Development Review

Published Citation

Hodgson, Dennis. "Benjamin Franklin on population: From policy to theory." Population and Development Review 17, no. 4 (December 1991): 639-661.

Peer Reviewed

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