6 Classes of People

1. 6 Classes of People

2. Elite • Owned a lot of land and slaves (20 or more) • Wealthy because of selling cotton and rice. • Lived near the coast during colonial times but started moving towards the midlands and upstate during the antebellum period (before Civil War) • Educated by private tutors or studied abroad (in Europe)

3. Elite • Had a lot of power and influence in the state • Used power to pass laws to protect slavery • Many elite were plantation owners and lived in huge houses

4. Middle Class • Jobs: tradesmen, merchants, shopkeepers, physicians (doctor), attorneys (lawyer) • Had enough education and financial stability to avoid working with their hands. • Most likely lived in cities and towns • Had some political power • Might own a few slaves for household chores

5. Middle Class • Children were taught to read and write and might follow their father’s job

6. Lower Class • Unskilled and uneducated • Did not own land • Limited jobs because of slavery • They would farm just enough to survive (subsistence farming) • They would live on whatever land they could find (squatting-did not own the land)

7. Lower Class • Had little to no political influence

8. Independent Farmers • Small farms with a few slaves but they worked side by side in the fields • Independent Farmers had small pieces of land and poor equipment. • Majority of farming was done by independent farmers • Mostly lived in the backcountry and upstate

9. Independent Farmers • As they made more money, they bought more slaves and gradually became wealthier and might even move up to the elite class.

10. Free African American • Many became skilled craftsmen (musicians, carpenters, bricklayers) or worked on independent farms. • Some received freedom because of their skill, a special deed or service, or they bought their freedom. • Many stayed in the region to work to earn freedom for other family who were enslaved.

11. Free African American • Children might be taught to read and write at home but no public school • Had more job opportunities in the South than in the North because of their skills • Did not have political or social equality with other Southerners • Had to pay a special tax and carry freedom papers wherever they went

12. Enslaved African American • Unpaid workers who were bought and sold and considered property of the master • Forced to carry a pass in order to travel • Many were born and died in the plantation that they lived • Lived in a one room cabin under strict supervision • Some sold as punishment for disobedience, death of the master, or for extra cash

13. Enslaved African American • Families were often divided • Slaves worked from sun up to sun down in the fields and inside the house. • Clothes and limited food was provided by the master • Illegal for slaves to learn to read and write • Severely punished for trying to run away

14. Enslaved African American

15. Elite Middle Class Lower Class Independent Farmers Free African Americans Enslaved African Americans