1. Social Classes in the Colonies

2. Social Classes in the Colonies
The Colonial Elite
Most free Americans benefited from economic growth in the 18th century
As colonial society matured an elite class emerged
Not as powerful or wealthy as the aristocracy of England (important)
Increasingly, the American elite class dominated politics and society (gap between rich and poor grows immensely in 18th century)

3. Social Classes in the Colonies
The Colonial Elite
New England and the Middle Colonies – emergence of powerful merchant class
Chesapeake colonies and Carolinas – the elite planter class (plantation owners with numerous slaves)
Rulers of proprietary colonies like Pennsylvania and Maryland
Men of prominence controlled colonial government
Families benefited and shared power—Virginia planters passed their wealth down and nearly every Virginian of note achieved prominence through family connections (the days when self-made men could rise into the Virginia gentry were long gone)

4. Social Classes in the Colonies
Anglicization
Several factors promoted Anglicization in the British colonies: the growth of autonomous political communities based on English models, the development of commercial ties and legal structures, the emergence of a trans-Atlantic print culture, Protestant evangelism, religious toleration, and the spread of Enlightenment ideas.
For much of the 18th century, the colonies of America had more regular trade and communication with Britain than among themselves
Elites in different regions slowly developed a common lifestyle and sense of common interests
Did not think of themselves as distinctly America, but more and more English (“Anglicization”)
Tried to emulate lifestyle of English aristocracy

5. Social Classes in the Colonies
The South Carolina Aristocracy
South Carolina planters – richest group of mainland colonists
Traveled, spent time in Charleston were aristocratic social life flourished
Highly concentrated wealth a pattern that would continue into the 20th century across the South

6. Social Classes in the Colonies
Throughout the colonies, elites emulated what they saw as England’s balanced, stable social order
Justified their wealth and status (liberty—the right of those blessed with wealth and prominence to dominate over others)
Viewed society in hierarchical terms
One’s status was revealed in dress, manners, and the splendor of one’s home
“Superiority” and “dependence” as natural elements of any society

7. Social Classes in the Colonies
Poverty in the Colonies
Poverty grew in the colonies during the 18th century
Slavery, of course
As colonial population expanded, land became less available

8. Social Classes in the Colonies
Poverty in the Colonies
Tenants and wage laborers were a growing presence on farms in the Middle Colonies by 1750
Propertyless wage earners grew in colonial cities (1/3rd owned no property in Boston in 1771; 2/3rds of white men owned no land in parts of Virginia—due to planters and speculators gobbling up land for themselves and their sons
1750 – half of the colonies wealth controlled by 10 percent elites

9. Social Classes in the Colonies
Poverty in the Colonies
Attitudes about poverty according to better-off colonists: lazy, shiftless, and responsible for their own plight (some things never change!)
Communities tried to “deal” with poverty—most solutions were degrading and humiliating
Many poor were widowed or abandoned women and their children

10. Social Classes in the Colonies
The Middle Ranks
Large group due to wide distribution of land and the economic autonomy of most ordinary free families
Land ownership as a right, or as the social precondition of freedom—America had available land, Europe did not have much
A wide distribution of property that made economic independence part of the lived experience of large numbers of white colonists

11. Social Classes in the Colonies
Women and the Household Economy
Family was the center of economic life in the 18th century
All family members were expected to participate
High birthrates reflected the need for labor especially as small farmers and artisans started producing for overseas markets as a part of the consumer revolution

12. Social Classes in the Colonies
Women and the Household Economy
Free women were expected to devote their lives to being good wives and mothers
Colonial society becoming more structured
Colonial society becoming more male dominated
Women have fewer opportunities than they did in earlier colonial times
Division of labor along gender lines was solidified in 18th century America (women’s work)
Women’s work is never done—helping with family business, taking care of house, rearing children

13. Social Classes in the Colonies
North America at Mid-century (1750)
Remarkably diverse for the times
Multiple social organizations (natives, plantations, slave communities, towns, small farms, etc.
Elites dominating political and economic life of nearly every colony
Great opportunities for freedom
Free-colonists – very high per capita income (but not evenly distributed)
Economic growth produced high birthrate, longer life, expanding demand for consumer goods
Economic wealth becoming more and more dependent on slavery
As regional distinctiveness among the British colonies diminished over time, they developed largely similar patterns of culture, laws, institutions, and governance within the context of the British imperial system.
The growth of an Atlantic economy throughout the 18th century created a shared labor market and a wide exchange of New World and European goods, as seen in the African slave trade and the shipment of products from the Americas.

14. Social Classes in the Colonies