t from the coast westward, and built up a
new Pennsylvania in contrast with the old Quaker colonies, and a new
South in contrast with the tidewater South. This New South composed the
southern half of the Old West.

From its beginning, Pennsylvania was advertised as a home for dissenting
sects seeking freedom in the wilderness. But it was not until the exodus
of German redemptioners,[100:1] from about 1717, that the Palatinate and
neighboring areas sent the great tide of Germans which by the time of
the Revolution made them nearly a third of the total population of
Pennsylvania. It has been carefully estimated that in 1775 over 200,000
Germans lived in the thirteen colonies, chiefly along the frontier zone
of the Old West. Of these, a hundred thousand had their home in
Pennsylvania, mainly in the Great Valley, in the region which is still
so notably the abode of the "Pennsylvania Dutch."[100:2]

Space does not permit us to describe this movement of
colonization.[100:3] The entrance to the fertile limestone soils of the
Great Valley of Pennsylvania was easy, in view of the low elevation of
the South Mountain ridge, and the watergaps thereto. The continuation
along the similar valley to the south, in Maryland and Virginia, was a
natural one, especially as the increasing tide of emigrants raised the
price of lands.[100:4] In 1719 the proprietor's price for Pennsylvania
lands was ten pounds per hundred acres, and two shillings quit-rents. In
1732 this became fifteen and one-half pounds, with a quit-rent of a half
penny per acre.[101:1] During the period 1718 to 1732, when the Germans
were coming in great numbers, the management of the lands fell into
confusion, and many seated themselves as squatters, without
title.[101:2] This was a fortunate possibility for the poor
redemptioners, who had sold their service for a term of years in order
to secure their transportation to America.

By 1726 it was estimated that there were 100,000 squatters;[101:3] and
of the 670,000 acres occupied between 1732 and 1740, it is estimated
that 400,000 acres were settled without grants.[101:4] Nevertheless
these must ultimately be paid for, with interest, and the concession of
the right of preemption to squatters made this easier. But it was not
until 1755 that the governor offered land free from purchase, and this
was to be taken only west of the Alleghanies.[101:5]

Although the credit system relieved the difficulty in Pennsylvania, the
lan