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# Artificer Planter Independence

# Definition

The economic and social autonomy achieved by skilled craftsmen who migrate to colonies and become agricultural producers, deriving their subsistence from their own land and family labour rather than serving customers. This independence contrasts with the dependent status of artificers in established societies and influences occupational choices in new territories.

## Source Chapter

Book III, Chapter 1

## Context

Smith uses this colonial phenomenon to illustrate how economic independence influences occupational choices, explaining why skilled workers in new territories abandon manufacturing for agriculture when land is available and how this preference shapes economic development patterns.

## Economic Domain

General Theory

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