edHelper.com Colonial America (1492-1765)

Social Classes in Colonial America

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Social Classes in Colonial America
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	high interest, readability grades 4 to 5
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	4.63

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		gentry, skilled, ranking, social, ranked, based, mansion, lowest, collection, jobs, unskilled, order, powerful, people, property, servant
	content words:		Colonial America, In Colonial America, United States

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Social Classes in Colonial America By Cathy Pearl

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¹     A lot of people started to move to Colonial America. Social classes started to develop after a lot of people arrived. A social class is a way of ranking people. Some people are more powerful, and some people are less powerful. The people can be ranked on how much money they make, the jobs they have, or whether they own land. In Colonial America, there were three main social classes. They were the gentry, the middle class, and the poor.
 
²     The highest class was the gentry. They could vote. They were rich enough to own their own mansions and carriages. In the mansion, they might have a library and a collection of furniture. This furniture was shipped from England. The gentry also liked to wear clothes from London. These clothes were made in the newest style. They thought it showed how important they were.
 
³     Below the gentry was the middle class. They also owned property, but they were not as rich as the gentry. The middle class worked at skilled jobs. A skilled job was being a teacher or craftsmen. Craftsmen could make things others couldn't, like shoes and wagon wheels.

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