5 IS Letter of General Washmglon to Sir J. Sinclair. [Jan. 1, 



to draw your own inference of tlielr 

 comlutt. 



Dthi.varc is a ^erJ' fiuall ftute, the 

 jjrcutcr part of wliirli iie.> low, and is 

 i"u[)|)ofe(l to be unlicaltliy. The eaflern 

 fliore of Maryland is iimiUir thereto. 

 The lands in both, however, arc good. 



But the wefterii jjurts of the latl-uien- 

 tioned fiate, and of A'irginia, quite to 

 the line of North Carolina, above tide- 

 water (and more efpecially above the 

 Blue Mountains), are fnailar to thofe of 

 Pennfvlvania, }>et\\een the .Sufquchanna 

 and Potomac rivers, in foil, climate, and 

 produfitions ; and ia my opinion will be 

 confidcred, if it is not conlldercd fo al- 

 ready, as the [garden of America; foraf- 

 uuich as it lies between tjio two ex- 

 iVemes of heat and cold, partaking in a 

 degree of tlu; adv anlages of both, with- 

 out fecliui; much the inconveniences of 

 eitlier; and, witli trnib it may be laid, 

 is among the mofi fertile lands in Ame- 

 rica caft of the Apalaeian mountains. 



The uplands of North and South Ca- 

 rolina and Georgia are not diirnuilar in 

 foil ; but, as they ajipruach the lower 

 latitudes, are lefs con^jeniiU to wheat, 

 and arc fuppofed to be proportionably 

 more unhealthy. I'owards the feaboard 

 (if all the foul hern ftates (and further 

 fouilr, tiie more fo) the country is low, 

 fandy, and unhealthy; for which rcafon 

 I Hull fay little concerning them : tor, 



aa Idiould not clinfe to be an inhabi- 

 tant of them myfclf, I ought not to fay 

 any thing that would induce others to 



be fo. 



Tliis general defcription is furnilbcd, 

 that you may be enabled to form an idea 



f)f the pan of the United Slates which 



would be nii)ti, c<jngenial to your inclina- 

 tion. To pronounce, \\ith any degree 



of precifion, what lands could be ob- 



tJiined for in the jiarts I have cnunK- 



rated, is next to inqiolllhle, for the rea- 



ITjns I have bclbre atligncd; but upon 



pretty good data it may be faid, that 



ihofe in Pennfylvania are higher than 



thofe in Maryland (and, I believe, ia 



any other ftale), declining in price as 



you go foutherly, until the Rice fwamps 



of South Carolina and Georgia are met 



with ; anil iheie aie us much above the 



medium in price, as they are belo\v it ia 



health. I underfiand, however, that 



from 30 to 40 dollars per acre (I fix on 



dollars becaufe they apyily equally to all 



the Itales, and becaufe their relative 



value to fterlin^'is well uuderftood,) may 



be denominated the medium price in the 



vicinity of the Sufquehanna, in 'he (late 



OjC.Pciuifylvuuia ; from 20 to Gu oji the 



Potomac* ; and lefs, as I have noticed 

 before, as you proceed foutiierly. But, 

 what may apj)ear fmgular, and was »U 

 luded to m tlie former part of this letter, 

 the lands in the parts o^ which I am now 

 fpeaking, on and contiguous to tide-water 

 (with local exceptitjus), are in lower elti- 

 mation than thufe wiiich are above and 

 more remote from navigation. The eaufcs, 

 however, are apparent: 1, the land is 

 better ; 2, liigher, and more healthy j 

 3, they are chiefly, if not altogether, in 

 the occupation <jf farmers ; and 4, from 

 a combination of all thefe, purchafers 

 are attracted, and of confequence the 

 prices rife in proj)ortion to the demand. 

 The rife in the value of landed property 

 in this country has been progrellive ever 

 fmce my attention has been turned to 

 the luhjeW, now more tlum 40 years; 

 but t<)r tiie laft three or four of that 

 period, it has increafed beyond all cal- 

 culation ; ovvii)!;, in i)art, to the attach- 

 ment to, and the confidence which the 

 j'Cople are beginning to place in their 

 form of government, and to the prof- 

 perity of the coimlry iVom a variety of 

 concurring eaufcs, none more than to 

 the late high prices of its produce. 



From what I lun e faid, you will hav(^ 

 perceived that tlic prefent prices of bind 

 in PennfyJvania are higlier than they are 

 in Maryland and \'ii-ginia, although they 

 are not of fnperior quality. Two reafons 

 have already been alligncd for this : firil, 

 that in the fettled part of it the land is 

 divided into (inalicr farms, and u\ore im- 

 proved ; and fecondly, being in a greater 

 degree tiian any other the receptacle of 

 emigrants, thel'c receive their firft im- 

 prelbons in Philadelphia, and rarely look 

 beyond the limits of the ftate. But be- 

 fides thefe, two otlicr caufes, not a little 

 operative, may be added ; namely, that 

 until Congrefs palled general laws rela- 

 tive to naturalization and citizenlhip, 

 foreigners found it ealier to obtain the 

 privileges annexed to them in this (late 

 than eilewhere ; and becaufe there are 

 laws here for the gradual abolitioTi of 

 llavery, which neither of the two ftates 

 above-mentioned have at prefent, but 

 Avhich nothing is more certain than that 

 tiiey r.iuft have, and at a period not remote. 

 Notwithilanding thefe obllacles, and 

 although I may incur the charge of par- 

 tiality in hazarding fuch an opinion at 

 tbia time, I do not hefitate to pronounce 



* Both in what is called the Valley j that 

 isi lying between the Blue Mountain ainl 

 North MoujitaLn, which are the richeft lands 

 we have. 



that 



