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

South, both of which are raw, unrefined goods. These plantations resulted in individuals owning large quantities of land and being located further away from one another, leaving the population of the Southern colonies more dispersed and in generally lower numbers. This led to a significantly smaller development of cities and large, populated settlements in the South.
The abundance of this land and that fact that rights to it where given by the crown for free lead to the development of two particular classes; wealthy landowners and workers aiming to eventually claim their own land. However, the introduction of slavery into the South drastically changed this class system. Post the advent of African slaves a new rung on the class ladder, this was the poor landowner. As slave labor was, bearing a few expenses, basically free, the working class was replaced with the slave class and the old workers moved up and became poor land owners. In this system the poor landowners stayed poor as the wealthy landowners only got richer, eventually leading to the large dresses and fine suits of the Antebellum period.
In contrary to the their farming based Southern counterparts, the Northern colonies were home to a more artisan based economy. Including silversmiths live Paul Revere, the Northern economies did not face the same need for African slaves as the South did, instead requiring the fine skill craftsmen and artisans such as metal smiths and carpenters. As these colonies did not focus so much on farming and more on trade and commerce the space between two neighbors was drastically smaller and the population drastically higher. These regions of dense settlement would eventually evolve into large cities, such as Boston and New York City.
These “pre-cities” developed by the necessities of the economy, grew an entirely different social class system.

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

regions.