Economic Influences on Social Structures in British American Colonies

The British colonies in America were some of the most diverse, not only in environment and economy but also in culture and societal structure. Many claim that these four factors were intertwined and had direct effects on one another, especially the economy on the social structure. The two regions where these effects are most apparent are the Northern British colonies, those in New England, and the Southern British colonies. The basis for economic growth in North American-British colonies was one of the biggest contributing factors in the shaping of the social structure and culture of these different colonies. Southern colonies, such as Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, developed an agricultural based economy. These settlements thrived on large plantations that grew cash-crops in excess. Cotton and tobacco are two of the well known prominent cash-crops grown in the

Still atop the class ladder where the wealthy landowners and businessmen but following not as far behind as Southern poor-landowners, where the working class, and once more at the bottom where the poor. The prominent piece of this puzzle is the working class. These were the artisans, craftsmen, and traders that drove the economy, the very economy that drove them. This production based economy coupled with the developing cities is what would eventually lead the North into the industrial revolution, further changing the social structure of the North forever. The Northern and Southern British colonies where not just influenced socially by their economy but were deeply impacted. The South forever finding itself home to a more rural, farming setting and the North a more urban, industrial one. The driving forces of the economy, whether it be cash-crops or artisans, deeply and permanently affected the social structure and culture of their respective