In today’s modern world aspiring individuals can pursue a plethora of occupations. American jobs range from menial tasks like house cleaning, to high tech positions that require years of education and training. There are thousands of carriers that fall in between these two extremes: plumber, factory worker, auto salesman, insurance agent, actor, clerk, teacher, computer programmer, and much more. America, however, did not start out with this wide array of occupations. During the first centuries of Colonial America, settlers were family farmers, southern planters, indentured servants, slaves, un-skilled laborers, artisans, or merchants. All of these positions where predominantly held by men as women often took a secondary supportive role to their husbands. These seven occupational groups each produced various levels of prosperity, and carried their own social position within colonial America.
For centuries, the greater part of settlers turned to agriculture for their livelihood. About ¾ of the population where family farmers, and the majority owned the land they tilled. A small percentage of these individuals rented property. This was especially true during the eighteenth century in northern colonies like New York and Pennsylvania. Widespread land ownership helped produce relatively decent levels of wealth, by European standards, throughout the colonial region. It also gave farmers a political voice through their votes in local elections. The average farm was about one hundred acres in size, and annually provided a surplus of products to be sold on the open market. To help supplement agricultural revenue, and keep busy during the off-months, many family farms also produced manufactured goods. The value and volume of these surpluses varied with a regions agriculture potential, product demand, relative distance from commercial centers, and availability of transportation. The combined income of agriculture and home production gave most farmers modest purchasing power. In general the middle and southern colonial farms where more prosperous than their northern counterparts. Despite this trend, the majority of colonial farmers were able to support their current family, generate wealth, and provide for future generations.
The relative prosperity of the family farm is dwarfed in comparison to the great southern planters. This elite class came into existence through the production of three cash crops—tobacco, rice, and indigo. These valuable products were in great demand in Europe, and were grown on massive plantations using bounded workers. At first European and African indentured servants were used, but this eventually evolved into a system of racially based slave labor. The planter class lived predominately near major waterways in huge brick mansions, consisting of multiple rooms and floors. Free from daily labor, plantation owners had more leisure time to dedicate to various projects. They invested in extravagant luxuries, pursued a higher education, hosted elaborate banquets, and considered themselves the social equals of European aristocrats. Southern planters also had a dominant role in politics, exercising greater influence on government policies than family farmers, indentured servants, un-skilled laborers, and of course slaves. This combination of extreme wealth and authority propelled the planter class into the upper echelons of colonial society.
Before exploiting African slaves, southern planters used indentured servants to labor on their plantations. Indentured servants where contracted laborers that gave up their freedom for a certain amount of time in exchange for passage to the New World, and the basic necessities for starting their own farm upon completion of their contract. This labor system offered better job opportunities to desperate individuals stuck in perpetual poverty in England. Indentured servants were the property of whoever bought their contract, and the degree of freedom allowed was contingent upon the master. The possibility of acquiring freedom from bonded servitude puts indentured servants just above slaves and below unskilled laborers in the colony’s social hierarchy. Those fortunate enough to survive their term would see their social status rise to un-skilled laborer, family farmer, artisan, or occasionally—during the first decades of settlement—southern planter. Both white Europeans and black Africans were indentured servants in the early seventeenth century, and both could earn their freedom upon completion of their contract. By the mid 1600s, however, Africans became less and less likely to earn their sovereignty as the planter class created legislation dooming them to a life of chattel slavery.
Comprising the second largest labor group in the colonies, but unable to reap any benefits from their contribution, African slaves represented the very bottom of colonial society. The majority of slaves worked in agriculture, but a small percentage consisted of domestic servants and skilled laborers. Slaves had as much political and economical freedoms as their master would allow—usually none. They predominantly lived in extreme poverty with dilapidated shelters, little clothing, and poor diets. Exceptions to the norm did exist, and Charleston, South Carolina, is a great example of slaves exercising a degree of autonomy. The white planters of this region would often leave during the extreme heat and humidity of summer. In their absences, slaves would be given increased freedom by being encouraged to hire out their labor to third parties. This would generate small amounts of income to purchase various goods and services, which slightly increased a slave’s standard of living. This system, however, was only seen in the urban environment of Charleston and does not apply to the overwhelmingly harsh life of most colonial slaves. The vast majority of Africans had no hope of increasing their standard of living. They were bonded laborers for life experiencing all of the hardships of colonial existence with no compensation beyond shelter, clothing, and food.
If a slave was imported to America, than it was probably delivered on a merchant’s ship. The primary function of a merchant was to transport commodities from point A to point B. This encompassed a huge network of traders from the deep interior of the American continent to the colony’s port cities and international markets. The lifeblood of this system was credit based on land and/or intangible products expected to come into possession in the near future. Credit facilitated the movement of merchandise because it allowed trade to occur in the absence of hard currency. The colonial trade system primarily consisted of two kinds of merchants—urban and rural. Urban merchants were heavily involved in international trade, and preferred the role of wholesaler to retailer. They primarily lived in port cities, and accumulated larges amounts of wealth. They illustrated their financial success with large brick homes and the consumption various fine luxuries. Urban merchants also had a disproportionate voice in political affairs, similar to the southern planters, because foreign trade was seen as vital to the colonial economy. In contrast, local merchants focused on selling to the final consumer by setting up storefronts in small towns and outposts across the American frontier. Although their political power and overall standard of living was less than urban merchants, local merchants provided a huge service to the colony by acting as middlemen between the American frontier and the coast.
Artisans were one of the primary benefactors of local merchants because they facilitated the distribution of their various products. Artisans were classified as skilled laborers that made over half of their income form non-agricultural activities. This occupational label references low-paying textile producers, carpenters and metal workers of middling income, and the manufacturing elites—millers, tanners, silversmiths, and clockmakers. Due to the high demand for skilled labor, almost all artisans prospered throughout colonial America. A successful artisan was a self-employed craftsman that owned his own means of production. They either worked from home, or in a small shop that would double as a storefront. They might also cultivate some land for personal consumption. Property was usually owned outright by most artisans, which allowed them to vote in provincial elections. They also played a more active role in politics than most other professions, but overall influence was negligible compared to the merchant and planter elites. Artisans living in rural setting were classified below family farmers in the colony’s social hierarchy because they did not own as much land—the ultimate source of wealth. These frontier craftsmen would rely on their own merchandise, a small farm, and wages from seasonal employment to make a living. In urban centers, however, artisans had access to more lucrative markets, and held a middling position in society between the merchant elite and independent farmer.
The lowest occupation, for free white males, in colonial America consisted of seaman and property-less day laborers. These un-skilled workers suffered through seasonal unemployment, and often lacked a permanent place of residence. The majority of property-less laborers would find work during harvest time when independent farmers hired additional help. This was widely practiced in New English and Middle colonies, but slavery prevented it from taking hold in the South. Sailors found employment through a variety of shipping expeditions, but the majority worked during the cod fishing season. Besides fishing and farming, un-skilled laborers would find various menial jobs to generate the basic necessities of life. When this failed individuals would seek out poor houses, and other forms of public relief. The only thing that separated this occupational group from indentured servants and slaves was their free status. Despite their compatible standard of living bonded servants are still considered property, and this elevates un-skilled laborers position in the social hierarchy of colonial America.
All seven of these occupations—merchant, southern planter, artisan, farmer, un-skilled laborer, indentured servant, and slave—defined a persons place in colonial society. The vast majorities of the colonist were in the middle of this hierarchy as independent farmers. A privilege few found employment at the top as a merchant, southern planter, or artisans. This minority held the greatest percentage of wealth in early America, and played a dominant role in colonial politics. The bottom of society consisted of un-skilled laborers, indentured servants, and slaves. These classes had little to no economical or political benefits, and could only be distinguished through their different degrees of freedom. Together these seven occupational classes formed the vibrant and strong colonial economy that rivaled most seventeenth century European nations in economic prosperity.
No comments:
Post a Comment