American Plantation Social Classes

Following the Colonization of the Americas by European settlers, it was the moneyed elite that was either given the land to farm by the crown or used their own wealth to establish a foothold in the New World.

“The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South” by John W. Blassingame is the first book about slavery written by a historian in the viewpoint of slaves rather than slave owners. This book analyzes the experience of slaves in the South during misjudgement and confusion. Blassingame targets the different aspects that have influenced the slaves life and the way they lived it. Blassingame writes this book to encounter you in feeling the pain of the slaves but also how they had their own traditions and culture while enslaved.

For many people, the idea of a slave culture or of slaves exercising control and autonomy within the context of the master-slave relationship seems impossible. After all, the entire concept of the system of slavery is based upon the ownership of another person, which implies total control. However, Drew Gilpin Faust's essay, "Culture, Conflict, and Community on the Antebellum Plantation," which is based upon meticulous records kept by slave-owner James Henry Hammond, reveal that the master-slave relationship was far more complex than one might believe. Even when faced with rigid systems of control, slaves exercised some autonomy. Even with a rigid master, such as Hammond, these efforts at self-control frequently modified behavior on the plantation. In fact, while it is almost certain that some masters ruled through tyranny alone, it appears that the back-and-forth nature of the master-slave relationship meant that masters had to provide some inducements to produce work from their slaves.

Anyone searching for understanding of the rich planter class of the Old South would be fascinated with James Henry Hammond and the Old South. Hammond’s attention to detail regarding his plantations and personal life gives clarity into the Old South period of American history. Gilpin Faust seamlessly guides the reader through Hammond’s life and career, leaving the reader to hate Hammond on one page, and cheer him on the next. As president of Harvard University, Gilpin Faust’s other books include Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War and The Creation of Confederate Nationalism: Ideology and Identity in the Civil War South.

The concept of social class has been around for ages and is still a part of today’s society. Social class is not only based on the individual’s wealth but also on their social standing such as; monarchs, priests, nobles, merchants, and peasant class. The peasant class was practically ignored, which means that the higher classes would only pay attention to each other. This can be the case in society today, there are some people who feel that their career makes them higher than a janitor. Even though humans have been around for centuries, social class is still a big issue.

There has been many historians and theorists who have tackled colonial slavery. One of them is Ira Berlin whose book Many Thousands Gone is his take on slavery diversity in American history and how slavery is at the epicenter of economic production, amongst other things. He separates the book into three generations: charter, plantation and revolutionary, across four geographic areas: Chesapeake, New England, the Lower country and the lower Mississippi valley. In this paper, I will discuss the differences between the charter and plantation generations, the changes in work and living conditions, resistance, free blacks and changes in manumission.

In the English colonies there were six social classes. From the richest to the poorest, these were the gentry, the middle Class, poor whites, indentured servants, free africans and slaves. The people that made up these classes ranged from the most powerful to those with the least amount of rights, if any.

Society is set up into a hierarchical triangle that essentially determines social class. A social class is any person or group of people with the same educational, social or economical status. Social class can be broken down into many different categories such as race, age, gender, economic status, educational status and many more. Social class can be measured in many different ways such as financial status, family values, appearance, and demeanor. In America there are six main economical social classes which are the: Very poor, Poor, Working class, Middle class, Upper middle class, and the ruling class.

Artisans and skilled workers were the smallest group of slaves. These slaves were taught skills such as weaving, sewing, blacksmithing or carpentry. Obviously these slaves were valued for their skills in maintaining buildings and other equipment on the plantation. Often these slaves might work outside of the plantation or slave owners home at a job that actually paid. Unfortunately, as the slaves were the property of their owners, any money they made was actually paid to the slave

When one thinks of discrimination or social classes in regards to our history, slavery is definitely a superb example. Slavery began early in the 1600s in Jamestown, Virginia. These slaves were used as “tools” to aid in the production of tobacco and other crops. Slavery continued throughout the 17th and 18th century and led to many of the world’s most historical events. Not only was slavery a problem regarding discrimination, but it was also a social class issue. The social classes were based on money. Those who are wealthy were the ones who could afford to buy slaves and treat them like property. Much like in Brave New World, the Alphas got treated much better than the Epsilons and had much better jobs. Although with time, our society has gotten much better when it comes to discrimination. This issue ignited a bloody Civil War which ultimately freed the 4 million slaves and led to the writing

Social class describes the different "layers" that exist in society. These "layers," or classes in society, are a division that civilization has been running on ever since the beginning of mankind. In most modern societies, our system of social class division is one of opportunity. We experience a good deal of social mobility, where people through generations or in their own lifetime can move up or down the social scale. By examining the many different perceptions of social class along with S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, it is illustrated that social class has an impact on people while they are growing up, and will usually deny them from rising above adversity.

In my opinion social class is one of the most important characteristics of a civilization.One of the reasons why is because it influences wise career choices.The reason why I think it would influence people is because they would be separated into classes.For example the highest class, the middle class, and the lowest class.The people who consisted of the highest class were land owners, priest, warriors, people of the government, and kings.The people in the middle class consists of merchants, craftsmen, farmers, and fisherman.The lowest class were the slaves.Most of the time the slaves lived in houses that their masters owned.Another reason this would influence people to get good jobs is because you would only be able to get a certain house because of what job you have.The kings would have palaces, and the rest of the top class would have “big houses” (Important Characteristics of a Civilization).The middle class would live in “houses with one or two floors.” (Important Characteristics of a Civilization).Did you know because of social classes “a knowledgeable and educated

Social class has been always been in our society since its establishment. Back then, white,

Social Class is a division of a society based on social and economic status. In today’s society there are three main social groups in America: upper, middle, and lower class; these rankings are contributed by mass amounts of factors, but one of the main factors that people cannot control is their race and ethnicity. Race and ethnicity, likewise as gender, can also play a part in a variety of other concerns such as, education level, income, and where you reside.

Everyone comes from a different background and lives in different situations, but many people don’t understand what they haven’t experienced. In early American slavery and Puritan society, class structure and religion leads to the unfair treatment of some individuals because of an inability to understand those living in dissimilar situations, or with differing backgrounds. The way a person thinks or believes is molded by the way others treat them because of their living situation or background through class structure and religion as seen in Puritan society and early American slavery.