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 Philadelphia (an urban area), 1756-1774:

 

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%
(91-100%)

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 Chester County, PA (a long settled rural area), 1693-1782:

 

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 America:

 

“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 Virginia:

 

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 United States replied, “Your vote is appreciated, Mr. Blair.”  As the next voter approached, the sheriff inquired: Who do you vote for, Mr. Buchanan?”  “For John Clopton,” he answered; and Clopton, at the other end of the table, responded: “Mr. Buchanan, I shall treasure that vote in my memory.  It will be regarded as a feather in my cap for ever.”

 

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 Plantation affords.  And the poor Planters, who have but one Bed, will very often sit up, or lie upon a Form or Couch all Night, to make room for a weary Traveller, to repose himself after his Journey.  If there happen to be a Churl, that either our of Covetousness, or Ill-nature, won’t comply with this generous Custom, he has a mark of Infamy set upon him, and is abhorr’d by all.”