Social Class In The Us And Britain

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Social Class in the US and Britain Although the United States was a British Colony in the early 1700s, the differences between the two were definitely noticeable, especially in the socioeconomic fields, mostly due to the fact that slavery played a much larger role in the United States. At least from the moment in 1620 when the Mayflower anchored off Cape Cod, there has been an American Dream. Though hard to define, it usually entails the concept of freedom, justice and equality. Despite variations in the content of the dream there is one constant, the American Dream is a dream of the future and as such implies the idea of progress, change and equality. Our dreams may differ from those of the men who wrote the Mayflower Compact because they expressed a dream more by implication than by statement, yet the men who subscribed to it clearly felt that they were engaged in an effort to establish a better order of society than their fathers had known. In the US, Colonial Society was composed of several social classes. These in turn determined political rights, legal rights, personal attire, and many other trivial aspects of society. (1727: Colonial America) For example, in church and in college, people were seated according to their social status. The differences among the social classes were very noticeable, and birth and pedigree counted for more than they do today. (Population and Social Rank) The ruling class consisted of the gentry, whose definition varied from North to South. Generally, they owned farms or plantations and were merchants, doctors, lawyers, or ministers. (1727: Colonial America) In the North, this also included clergymen, college professors, and great landowners in New York. In the South, the gentry were u... ... middle of paper ... ...r on triangular trade and made the concept familiar with US citizens. In a way, the British almost used the US as a way of testing if slavery would work, but in the end gave their colony too much power and wealth, leading to the Independence. Works Cited Deary, Terry. The Gorgeous Georgians. London, England: Scholastic Children's Books, 1998. Gordon, Edward J.. American Literature. 4th Edition. Boston, MA: Ginn & Co. Publishers, 1975. Several Authors. "1727: Colonial America." 2001-2007. 16 Apr 2008 . Sommerville, J.P.. "Social Structure." University of Wisconsin-Madison History Department. 20 Apr 2008 . Whitten, Chris. "Population and Social Rank." History of the USA. 2001-2007. 09 Apr 2008 .

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