Submitted by Anonymous on 12/31/1997 10:00 PM Flag This Paper
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There were 3 main groups of citizens in the colonial time period. They are The Landed Gentry, people with land property, The Middle Class and The Lower Class. The Landed Gentry was the most influential class. It was consisted of the rich and most educated, this class owned lands and had the right to vote. It was made up of merchants, doctors, lawyers and other professionals. They lived in large houses, and had elegant furniture. They had many servants and slaves. This class had been the most influential in the government. The middle class were mainly farmers, shop keepers and shoemakers, etc. Some owned land and had servants or slaves. In this class, both men and women worked toward a better life but only men could vote, and women were responsible for making goods. The last class is the Lower Class, these people were mainly servants, slaves, apprentices or sailors. People of this class are mainly illiterate and not owned properties. Many of them are jobless, non-of them were voters.
There are many kinds of servants and slaves at this period of time. The Indenture servants are servants of kids and women, ages from fifteen to twenty-four years old. They have to work for years to pay for their trip to America, they mainly looked for a better life and money for their family. Another kind of servants were the Redemptioners, they do not have money to pay for the trip to America. So they are required to work for years in America to pay for the trip, if they could not raise to amount of money required in a certain period of time, they would be sold away to another country. Slaves were also common at this time.
Slaves were black, they had little rights and often mistreated. The government set up the Slave Code to farther take away their rights, it is required for slaves to travel with owner's permission or they will be harshly punished. Slaves were also harshly punished compared to whites if they committed a crime. They could be traded or sold to...