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Social Classes In The 18th Century

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Social classes have been around since the beginning of Modern civilization. They can be called different names based on where you go. Social classes, for example, were called casts in India. Even in modern day America we have social classes. People can be sorted into one of three classes. The upper class that contains most of the wealth and have many luxuries, the middle, or working, class that works hard, usually at one job, for a living and can afford some extra comforts, and the lower class that will work multiple jobs and still struggle to get by. Just like the social classes today the ones in the 18th century had definite differences along with some similarities. There were three main social classes during 18th century Britain. The first, and wealthiest, class were the Gentry. Included in the Gentry …show more content…

On the other end of the spectrum, there are the working poor who lived in overcrowded workhouses that were commonly festered with disease. These people had to work numerous hours in a factory or on a farm every day just to make enough money to stay alive. In between these two are the working conditions of the other 3 classes (White). The people of the gentry “included … gentlemen … wealthy tradesmen, and well-off manufacturers.” (Social and Family Life…). They were quite wealthy, but still had to manage their company or trade business. Finally the middle class consisted of mainly hardworking merchants, artisans, and shopkeepers that worked similar hours compared to what a middle class person in would today. The freeholders would work their own land, providing crops to feed their families and sometimes sell on the market(Social and Family Life…). Despite the enormous differences in the amount of work and working conditions between the classes, work was not everything. People would partake in many different leisure activities to pass the

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The wealthiest, most well-bred people in colonial America were the upper class. They came from money and aristocracy. People who were trained in a profession or had a business were middle class. Illiterate, semi-skilled whites were lower class. Then there were indentured servants and slaves, who had basically no rights.

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There were four main social classes existing in the south during the Antebellum time period. At the very top were large plantation owners who usually owned over fifty slaves. Right below them were small slave owners who had around twenty slaves. Next were Yeomen farmers and freed slaves. The Yeomen farmers were the largest social class out of these four.

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There were also various classes of common people. There were farmers, who were very efficient. There were merchants, who would travel and trade. These people had a fair amount of freedom to be independent and wear stylish clothes. There were artisans of different kinds.

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Living conditions differed dramatically between the working class and the middle class. The middle class’s living quarters were in much better shape than the working class. There was no need to worry about dirty water, space, or affording housing. They often lived in large houses that were fully furnished with lots of space. Since the middle class primarily owned factories they had large amounts of revenue pouring in, allowing them to live extremely luxurious lives.

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It was incomparable to the lives of the wealthy. Their lives were so terrible, that they did not feel like citizens. They were forced to work twelve hour days, six days a week. Even though they were working constantly, they could not pay their bills, feed their families, and some people did not have homes. Their lives at their workplaces were awful as well.

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Furthermore, both the aristocrats and middle class were able to afford luxuries and could educate their children. Women of these classes were also not required to work but often watched over the affairs of the families plantations since the men were busy in government or other

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Elites’ taste were commonly adopted by people with lower income and status through the process of refinement which created the middle class. However, the middle class had to work in order to purchase all the material objects like tableware, china, carpets, and clocks. They earned extra income from household manufacturing. Thus, the middle class dealt with textiles and quilting to earn money and comfort. They were used to create family clothes or exchanged work with other people to create a strong fabric used to create summer working dressses.

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