The Power of the Gentry
During the colonial period, the gentry wielded considerable power in the thirteen colonies. The following documents give some glimpse into the gentry's economic, social, and political authority. What was the source of the gentry's power? And how was that authority felt in politics and in daily life?
Percentage
of Wealth Held by the Richest 10% of the Population for North and South in 1770:
Type of
Settlement |
|
North |
South |
Frontier |
|
33 |
40 |
Rural Subsistence Farming |
|
35 |
45 |
Rural Commercial Farming |
|
45 |
65 |
Cities |
|
60 |
65 |
Overall |
|
45 |
55 |
Distribution of Taxable Wealth in
Those with
Taxable Property |
1756 |
1767 |
1769 |
1772 |
1774 |
Poorest 0-30% |
1.6 |
1.8 |
0.0 |
1.7 |
1.1 |
Lower/Middle 31-60% |
1.4 |
5.5 |
1.2 |
4.4 |
4.0 |
Upper/Middle 61-90% |
37.8 |
27.0 |
26.8 |
22.6 |
22.6 |
Top 91-95% |
12.6 |
16.2 |
18.3 |
16.5 |
16.8 |
Very Top 96-100% |
34.0 |
49.5 |
53.7 |
54.7 |
55.5 |
Total for Top 10% |
46.6 |
65.7 |
72.0 |
71.2 |
72.3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of
taxpayers without taxable property (Which was usually land, slaves, horses,
cattle, etc.) |
27.4 |
41.2 |
49.0 |
42.2 |
52.2 |
Distribution of Taxable Wealth in
Year |
Pct of Wealth
Held By Richest 10% |
Pct of Wealth Held By Poorest 60% |
1693 |
24 |
39 |
1715 |
26 |
36 |
1730 |
29 |
32 |
1748 |
29 |
35 |
1760 |
30 |
27 |
1782 |
34 |
22 |
A British visitor
describes what he took to be the definition of a Southern Gentlemen in Colonial
“If a [man]…has
Money, Negroes and Land enough he is a compleat
Gentleman. These [possessions] hide all
his defects, usher him into (what they call) the best of company; and draws
upon him the smiles of the fair Sex. His
madness then passes for wit, his extravagance for flow of spirit, his insolence
for bravery, and his cowardice for wisdom…. Learning and good sense; religion
and refined Moral…have nothing to do in the composition. These are qualifications only proper for a
dull, plodding, thoughtful fellow, who…cannot appear in polite company for want
of Negroes: Nor at horseraces and Cock matches for want of skill in
those…heroic exercises.”
Election Day in
The courthouse was
prepared for election day by setting up a polling
table either inside the building or out in the yard. Each candidate secured the services of a
clerk to enter on a sheet the name of each freeholder who came and spoke aloud
his vote for the candidate who had employed the clerk “to take his poll.” A decided element of confrontation was
introduced into the action by the presence of the candidates, who were seated
at the table during the time of polling.
An account from late in the century is suggestive of both the form of
the contest and the manner in which it was integrated into the patterns of
favor and obligation characteristic of a face-to-face agrarian society. The election was held to fill a single
vacancy. The candidates, John Marshall
and John Clopton, were at the table when the voters
came up. The sheriff asked:
“Mr. Blair, who do you vote for?” “John
Marshall,” said he; and there upon the future Chief Justice of the
Colonel Scarburgh’s election was contested because he had, before
election, given: “strong Liquors to the People…once at a Race, and the other
Time at a [militia] Muster; and did, on the Day of Election, cause strong
Liquor to be brought in a Cart near the Court-house Door, where many People
drank thereof, whilst the Polls of the Election were taking; and one Man, in
particular, said, Give me a Drink, and I
will go and vote for Col. Scarburgh,… and Drink
was accordingly given him out of the said Cart, where several People were merry
with Drink: But ut
doth not appear, whether that Person voted for the said Scarburgh or not.”
Obligations of
Gentility:
In 1705 Robert
Beverly Wrote:
“The Inhabitants are
very Courteous to Travellers who need no other Recommendation, but the being
Human Creatures. A Stranger has no more
to do, but to inquire upon the Road, where any Gentleman, or good House-keeper
Lives, and there he may depend upon being received with Hospitality. This good Nature is so general among their
People, that the Gentry when they go abroad, order their Principal Servant to
entertain all Visitors, with every thing the