Table of Contents
What types of people made up the middle class in colonial America?
Some colonies forbade ordinary citizens from wearing such “excess apparel” (clothing) and even fined those who disobeyed. The middle class was made up of farmers and artisans (skilled crafts- people). These were people who owned their own land or businesses. Many had enough property to qualify to vote.
Who was the middle class middle colonies society?
In the 18th century, a new group, the “middling sort” or middle class, gained a larger role in society and government. These men and women worked in trades – blacksmithing, silversmithing, printing, and millinery, for example. They worked as professionals, such as lawyers and doctors, or merchants who owned stores.
What was the middle colonies economy?
Economy. The Middle Colonies enjoyed a successful and diverse economy. Largely agricultural, farms in this region grew numerous kinds of crops, most notably grains and oats. Logging, shipbuilding, textiles production, and papermaking were also important in the Middle Colonies.
What was the social class in the Middle Colonies?
Hundreds of New England shipwrights built oceangoing ships, which they sold to British and American merchants. As in New England, the majority of the elite in the Middle Colonies were merchants. Merchants dominated urban society; about 40 merchants controlled half of Philadelphia ‘s trade.
British Americans’ reliance on indentured servitude and slavery to meet the demand for colonial labor helped give rise to a wealthy colonial class—the gentry—in the Chesapeake tobacco colonies and elsewhere. To be genteel, that is, a member of the gentry, meant to be refined; free of all rudeness.
What was the middle class like in the Mid Atlantic region?
In cities, members of the middle class were skilled craftsmen and artisans. Economic patterns in the mid-Atlantic region were similar to those in New England, with some variations for the ethnic origins of various immigrant communities.
How did the wealthy people in the colonies become wealthy?
Wealthy merchants in Philadelphia and New York, like their counterparts in New England, built elegant Georgian-style mansions. Many merchants became wealthy by providing goods to the agricultural population; many of this group came to dominate the society of seaport cities.