Class Divisions In The American Colonies

A sense of unity filled the United States of America after they gained independence by winning the Revolutionary War. This sense of unity, however, did not last forever. Rather than having disputes with Britain, the United States began to have disputes among its three "sections" - the north, south, and west. Starting with the War of 1812, sectionalism began as a small rift but grew into a huge gap that separated the north, south, and west.

Howard Zinn’s centers his argument on an editorial written by the historian Charles Beard. Beard stated that the rich founders protected what they had and that they did this by regulating the government by regulating the laws in which the government operates itself. Howard Zinn states that the Fathers were trying to keep the power that they already had. As most of the founding Fathers were “wealthy” lawyers, most of them had a significant amount of land, slaves or interest in manufacturing or shipping. They realized that they had loaned money to the government and that the only way to get money back was to create a strong government

After that, Zinn wrote about the poor class, white servants especially, who came to North America. They were poor in England before coming to North America and remained poor. Many of them died in the voyages because of starvation and diseases. Also, Zinn described the difficulties that the poor class suffered from it. For instance, the servant women were raped. In addition, if the servants want to marry, their master should agree otherwise he could separate the family. Moreover, Zinn stated the government, which the wealthy men controlled it, passed laws to punish the servants. Also, the white servants gained their freedom after a long time, but they remained in their poor class. Also, Zinn stated another example of division by mentioning that in the Carolinas, John Locke, set up a feudal-type aristocracy. Locke’s constitution stated that eight barons would own 40 percent of the land and only barons could be governor. In addition, Zinn stated that the governors gave the lands to their friends; at the same time, the poor people didn’t have lands or foods. Another thing, Zinn said, “All the cities built poor houses in

Once the new world was discovered, it took over a century before England successful began to colonize. When the first town, Jamestown, was established, more towns sprouted up, and eventually colonies were formed along the Atlantic coast. As time went on, these colonies could be grouped by regions. The regions of the New world, though sharing general similarities, had major differences in religion, social organization, economy and ethnic patterns, which set the path for colonial sectionalism at the time.

Diversity in the American Colonies: The Formation of English, Native American, African and German Identities

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.

The readings examined how classism has negatively affected economics in the United States, how oppression manifests in taking financial advantage of groups of people who cannot advance financially, and systemic issues contributing to low wage and inability to move out of one’s social class. I was struck by the idea that most people in the United States are disadvantaged financially based on the way the country has set up its economic policies. From the beginning, black people have been oppressed by the inability to attain wealth, which continued through the end of WWII. I unnecessarily read a chapter speaking about financial companies targeting poor people, particularly people of color, with money schemes so they are losing their hard-earned money to fees and interest rates. This scheme continues to keep people in debt and living paycheck to paycheck. I related to the reading about college loans creating a paradox that students with degrees enter the workforce unable to find a job in their their field of study. Then the added paradox of not being able to find work making

Since around the creation of the Republican party and the Democratic Party, politicians and other Americans have divided our states into red and blue states. During the Presidential Election, you could tell who had the most electoral votes due to the color of the state and how many due to the numbers at the top of the state. President Obama, who became a vision of hope for those needing a change in the establishment, said this,”“The pundits like to slice and dice our country into … red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats,” he said. “But I’ve got news for them … We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don’t like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We coach Little

In Spite of the devastating history of segregation in the United States. A lot has changed in the past fifty years since segregation ended. The United States shifted from arresting African Americans for using “white only” facilities to integrated schools all over the country. Influential individuals such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr helped pave the way for African Americans to live as equals to along with their white counterparts in the United States of America.

Social class is defined as 'people having the same social or economic status' (Wordnet). In contemporary American society, social class is based on the amount of money and property you have and also prestige. Prestige is given to a person through the line of work or the family that they come from. For example, upper-upper class member Jennifer Lopez reeks of prestige not only because she has millions of dollars in her bank account, but she has very expensive luxuries, cars, and houses.

The ideal concept of American society is one in which all of the citizens are treated equal in all every realm and situation. Class, race or gender does not divide the utopian America; everyone is afforded the same opportunities and chances for success. In this chimerical state Americans are able to go as far as their dreams allow and with hard work and perseverance any thing is possible. Many Americans subscribe to this pluralist view of the Country, believing that within our democratic system it is the majority who maintains control and sets policy. Unfortunately this idyllic country does not exist nor has it ever existed. America is made up of distinct social classes and the movement within those classes is for the most part,

Inequality has been a major issue in the Colonial Virginia and it was originated within a hierarchy of race, gender, and social class that already existed in the mother country of England.

There is much debate about the issue of social class in the United States. There are arguments about whether social classes are distinctly separate or fluid, dependent upon one’s community or society as a whole, and if they are subjective or objective (Hughes and Jenkins). However, despite the debate surrounding social classes, it is still important to try to define them and analyze their effects, as they are such an important part of our identity and our opportunities in society. Although our society has tried to appear as though we have no classes, and it is becoming harder to tell what class someone is in by material goods, classes do still exist today (Scott and Leonhardt). The trend has been to divide the U.S. into four major

Social class systems in the nineteenth century were comprised of the upper class, the middle class, the working class, and the underclass. The different social classes can be “distinguished by inequalities in such areas as power, authority, wealth, working and living conditions, life-styles, life-span, education, religion, and culture” (Cody). The poor, also known as peasants, were usually mistreated and segregated from the wealthy, or those of higher class. During his time, Charles Dickens “seen as a champion of “the poor” by some of the poor themselves” (“What was”). It is said that one of his greatest achievements “was to bring the problem of poverty to the attention of his readers through introducing varieties of poor persons into almost all of his novels, and showing the “deserving” majority of the poor, bravely struggling against the forces arrayed against them” (“What was”). This is clearly evident in A Tale of Two Cities. During the nineteenth century Victorian era, social class systems were a common excuse for the division and mistreatment of many individuals, as evidenced in Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities.