African-Americans and Social Classes in Colonial America
History – Colonial America
African Americans in Colonial America experienced the United States differently, depending on whether they lived in the North or South. The American South of the 17th and 18th Centuries was dominated by agricultural life, particularly plantation life, and that set the stage for high black population of slaves who were oppressed in every major area of life. Meanwhile, the more industrial North also had slavery but to a lesser extent and with a high percentage of indentured servants, allowing greater freedoms in basic areas of life and also the possibility of being completely free. The John Catherwood letter indicates many aspects of Colonial life, including but not limited to the status of the two correspondents, immigration and the practice of indentured servitude. Finally, examination of the craftsmen, plantation owners and slaves on a plantation illustrates the three major classes in Colonial America, with craftsmen in the middle class, plantation owners in the gentry class and slaves in the lowest class.