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class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#New_England"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>New England</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-New_England-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Frontier" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Frontier"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>Frontier</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Frontier-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Plain_Folk_of_the_South" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Plain_Folk_of_the_South"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3</span> <span>The Plain Folk of the South</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Plain_Folk_of_the_South-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Minorities" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Minorities"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4</span> <span>Minorities</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Minorities-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-African_Americans" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#African_Americans"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4.1</span> <span>African Americans</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-African_Americans-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Asian_Americans" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Asian_Americans"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4.2</span> <span>Asian Americans</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Asian_Americans-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Hispanics" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Hispanics"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4.3</span> <span>Hispanics</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Hispanics-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Industrial_Northeast" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Industrial_Northeast"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.5</span> <span>Industrial Northeast</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Industrial_Northeast-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Ethnicity_and_social_class" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Ethnicity_and_social_class"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.6</span> <span>Ethnicity and social class</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Ethnicity_and_social_class-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-20th_century" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#20th_century"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>20th century</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-20th_century-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle 20th century subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-20th_century-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-In_popular_culture" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#In_popular_culture"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>In popular culture</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-In_popular_culture-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Agriculture" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Agriculture"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Agriculture</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Agriculture-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Agriculture subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Agriculture-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Farm_workers" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Farm_workers"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.1</span> <span>Farm workers</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Farm_workers-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Agriculture_in_the_21st_century" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Agriculture_in_the_21st_century"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.2</span> <span>Agriculture in the 21st century</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Agriculture_in_the_21st_century-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Further reading subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Primary_sources" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Primary_sources"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7.1</span> <span>Primary sources</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Primary_sources-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> 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data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p><p>Social class is an important theme for historians of the United States for decades. The subject touches on many other elements of <a href="/wiki/History_of_the_United_States" title="History of the United States">American history</a> such as that of changing <a href="/wiki/Education_in_the_United_States" title="Education in the United States">U.S. education</a>, with greater <a href="/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_United_States" title="Educational attainment in the United States">education attainment</a> leading to <a href="/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States" title="Household income in the United States">expanding household incomes</a> for many social groups. The overall level of <a href="/wiki/Prosperity" title="Prosperity">prosperity</a> grew greatly in the U.S. through the 20th century as well as the 21st century, anchored in changes such as growing American advances in science and technology with <a href="/wiki/List_of_American_inventions" class="mw-redirect" title="List of American inventions">American inventions</a> such as the <a href="/wiki/Phonograph" title="Phonograph">phonograph</a>, the portable electric <a href="/wiki/Vacuum_cleaner" title="Vacuum cleaner">vacuum cleaner</a>, and so on. Yet much of the debate has focused lately on whether <a href="/wiki/Social_mobility" title="Social mobility">social mobility</a> has fallen in recent decades as <a href="/wiki/Income_inequality" class="mw-redirect" title="Income inequality">income inequality</a> has risen, what scholars such as Katherine S. Newman have called the "American nightmare."<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>For most of American history, social class barriers were fundamentally rigid, with various private and public institutions enforcing rules based on <a href="/wiki/Racial_segregation_in_the_United_States" title="Racial segregation in the United States">racial segregation</a> and other forms of classifying people based on <a href="/wiki/Prejudice" title="Prejudice">prejudices</a> such as <a href="/wiki/Antisemitism" title="Antisemitism">antisemitism</a> and <a href="/wiki/Hispanophobia" class="mw-redirect" title="Hispanophobia">Hispanophobia</a>. All this changed greatly with the rise of broad-based prosperity in the aftermath of <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a> and efforts to expand <a href="/wiki/United_States_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="United States Constitution">Constitutional</a> civil rights under the law to groups such as African-Americans and <a href="/wiki/Hispanic-Americans" class="mw-redirect" title="Hispanic-Americans">Hispanic-Americans</a>. Issues regarding social class have remained hot-button topics in <a href="/wiki/Politics_in_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Politics in the United States">U.S. politics</a>, with the <a href="/wiki/Great_Recession_in_the_United_States" title="Great Recession in the United States">American Great Recession</a> causing massive socio-economic harm across the country from <a href="/wiki/Southern_United_States" title="Southern United States">southerners</a> to <a href="/wiki/Northern_United_States" title="Northern United States">northerners</a> to working-class whites to middle-class blacks </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Colonial_period">Colonial period</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Colonial period"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Historians in recent decades have explored in microscopic detail the process of settling the new country and creating the <a href="/wiki/Social_structure" title="Social structure">social structure</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Southern_colonies">Southern colonies</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Southern colonies"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The main themes have been the class system of the plantation South. These include the plantation masters and their families, as typified by the Byrd family. The plantation elite in gen regions of the Chesapeake, with some attention to South Carolina as well. The region had very few urban places apart from Charleston, where a merchant elite maintained close connections with nearby plantation society. It was a goal of prosperous merchants, lawyers and doctors in Charleston to buy lands and retire as country gentlemen. Charleston supported diverse ethnic groups, including Germans and French, as well as a free black population. Beyond the plantations yeoman farmers operated small holdings, sometimes with a slave or two. Missionaries commented on their lack of religiosity. The plantation areas of Virginia were integrated into the vestry system of the established Anglican church. By the 1760s a strong tendency to emulate British society was apparent in the plantation regions. However the growing strength of <a href="/wiki/Republicanism_in_the_United_States" title="Republicanism in the United States">republicanism</a> created a political ethos that resisted imperial taxation without local consent. Led by Virginia, the Southern Colonies resisted the British policy of taxation without representation, and supported the American Revolution, sending wealthy planters such as George Washington to lead the armies and Thomas Jefferson to declare the principles of independence, as well as thousands of ordinary folk to man the armies.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="19th_century">19th century</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: 19th century"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="New_England">New England</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: New England"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>New England was settled by community groups, that transplanted their social structure from England. In New England there was a flattening--owning land was a reality for most families, and the system of powerful landlords that pervaded English rural life was not carried over. There was no aristocracy. The strong religious base of the Puritans made the social order revolve around the local Congregational church. Education was a high priority; Harvard College was founded in 1636 and provided most of the ministers and lawyers. By 1700 a rich merchant class grew up in Boston, Salem and other seaports, linking the local economy to the entire British Empire. By 1750 land shortages were causing problems, as <a href="/wiki/Yankees" class="mw-redirect" title="Yankees">Yankee</a> began expanding north into Maine and New Hampshire, and west into New York.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Frontier">Frontier</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Frontier"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/American_frontier" title="American frontier">American frontier</a></div> <p>Historian <a href="/wiki/Frederick_Jackson_Turner" title="Frederick Jackson Turner">Frederick Jackson Turner</a> had a <a href="/wiki/Frontier_Thesis" title="Frontier Thesis">frontier</a> based theory. The frontier itself was egalitarian as land ownership was available to all free men. Second deference faded away as frontiersmen treated each other as equals. Third the frontiersmen forced new levels of political equality through <a href="/wiki/Jefferson_Democracy" class="mw-redirect" title="Jefferson Democracy">Jefferson Democracy</a> and <a href="/wiki/Jacksonian_Democracy" class="mw-redirect" title="Jacksonian Democracy">Jacksonian Democracy</a>. Finally the frontier provided a safety valve whereby discontented easterners could find their own lands. Historians now agree that few Eastern city people went to the frontier, but many farmers did so; before 1850 the America had few cities, which were mostly small, and the vast majority of people were rural. According to the <a href="/wiki/Frontier_Thesis" title="Frontier Thesis">Turner model</a>, the social structure of the East was similar to the familiar European class-based structure, while the West increasingly became more socially, politically, and economically equal.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Plain_Folk_of_the_South">The Plain Folk of the South</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: The Plain Folk of the South"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><a href="/wiki/Frank_Lawrence_Owsley" title="Frank Lawrence Owsley">Frank Lawrence Owsley</a> in <i>Plain Folk of the Old South</i> (1949) redefined the debate by starting with the writings of Daniel R. Hundley who in 1860 had defined the Southern middle class as "farmers, planters, traders, storekeepers, artisans, mechanics, a few manufacturers, a goodly number of country school teachers, and a host of half-fledged <a href="/wiki/Country_lawyers" class="mw-redirect" title="Country lawyers">country lawyers</a>, doctors, parsons, and the like." To find these people Owsley turned to the name-by-name files on the manuscript federal census. Owsley argued that Southern society was not dominated by planter aristocrats, but that yeoman farmers played a significant role in it. The religion, language, and culture of these common people created a democratic "plain folk" society.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In his study of <a href="/wiki/Edgefield_County,_South_Carolina" title="Edgefield County, South Carolina">Edgefield County, South Carolina</a>, Orville Vernon Burton classified black society into the poor, the yeoman middle class, and the elite.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> A clear line demarcated the elite, but according to Burton, the line between poor and yeoman was never very distinct. Stephanie McCurry argues, yeomen were clearly distinguished from poor whites by their ownership of land (real property). Yeomen were "self-working farmers," distinct from the elite because they worked their land themselves alongside any slaves they owned. Ownership of large numbers of slaves made the work of planters completely managerial.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Minorities">Minorities</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Minorities"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="African_Americans">African Americans</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: African Americans"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The study of slavery as a social and economic system dates from <a href="/wiki/Ulrich_B._Phillips" title="Ulrich B. Phillips">Ulrich B. Phillips</a> in the early 20th century. He argued that plantation slavery was a school for civilizing the blacks, albeit one that produced no graduates. His favoritism toward the slave owners was finally challenged by <a href="/wiki/Neoabolitionism_(race_relations)" title="Neoabolitionism (race relations)">neoabolitionist</a> historians in the 1950s, most notably <a href="/wiki/Kenneth_Stampp" class="mw-redirect" title="Kenneth Stampp">Kenneth Stampp</a>. Since the 1960s a large literature has emerged on the social structure of the slave system, especially on such topics as family life, gender roles, resistance to slavery, and demographic trends. The study of free blacks has been slower to emerge because of the shortage of records, but historians have been filling in the picture North and South with studies of free black urban communities, and their religious and political leaders. </p><p>The post-slavery era has been dominated by political studies, especially of <a href="/wiki/Reconstruction_era_of_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Reconstruction era of the United States">Reconstruction</a> and <a href="/wiki/Jim_Crow" class="mw-redirect" title="Jim Crow">Jim Crow</a>. The black churches were not only a political force, but became central to the black community in both urban and rural areas. The emergence of a black musical culture has been linked both to slavery (as in the <a href="/wiki/Blues" title="Blues">Blues</a>), and to church music.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Asian_Americans">Asian Americans</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Asian Americans"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Asian Americans had small communities in New York City before 1860. Their greatest growth came on the Pacific Coast, during the <a href="/wiki/Gold_Rush" class="mw-redirect" title="Gold Rush">Gold Rush</a> and railroad booms of the 1860s. The Chinese who remained in America were violently driven out of the mining and railroad camps, and largely forced into Chinatowns in the larger cities, especially San Francisco. The Chinese exclusion laws of the 1880s created special legal problems, which numerous have explored. The Chinatowns were over 90% male, augmented by a trickle of immigration, and slowly shrank in size until 1940. Local and national attitudes became much more favorable to the Chinese after 1940, largely because of American support for China in <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a>. </p><p>Japanese immigration was a major factor in the history of Hawaii, and after its annexation in 1898 large numbers moved to the West Coast. Anti-Japanese hostility was strong down to 1941, when it intensified and most Japanese on the West Coast were sent to relocation camps, 1942–44. After 1945 the trickle of immigration from the Philippines, India and Korea grew steadily, creating large communities on the West Coast. Asian immigration grew rapidly after 1965, with a large community that has very high educational achievement levels and high incomes.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Hispanics">Hispanics</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Hispanics"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In 1848 after the <a href="/wiki/Mexican%E2%80%93American_War" title="Mexican–American War">Mexican–American War</a>, the annexation of <a href="/wiki/Texas" title="Texas">Texas</a> and the Southwest introduced a Hispanic population that had full citizenship status. About 10,000 Californios lived in the southern part of California, and were numerically overwhelmed by migrants form the East by 1900 that their identity was almost lost. In <a href="/wiki/New_Mexico" title="New Mexico">New Mexico</a>, by contrast, the Mexican population maintained its highly traditionalistic and religious culture, and retained some political power, into the 21st century. The Tejano population of Texas supported the revolution against Mexico in 1836, and gained full citizenship. In practice, however, most were ranch hands with limited political rights under the control of local bosses. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Industrial_Northeast">Industrial Northeast</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Industrial Northeast"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The industrialization of the Northeast dramatically changed the social structure. New wealth abounded, with the growth of factories, railroads, and banks from the 1830 to the 1920s. Hundreds of small cities sprang up, together with 100 large cities (of 100,000 or more population by 1920). Most had a base in manufacturing. The urban areas came to have a complex class structure, compounded of wealth (the more the better), occupation (with the learned professions at the top), and family status (the older the better). Ethnic-religious groups had their separate social systems (such as German Lutherans and Irish Catholics). The New England <a href="/wiki/Yankee" title="Yankee">Yankee</a> was dominant in business, finance, education, and high society in most Northern cities, but gradually lost control of politics to a working class coalition led dominated by bosses and immigrants, including Irish Catholics. Hundreds of new colleges and academies were founded to support the system, usually with specific religious or ethnic identities. Heterogeneous state universities became important after 1920. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Ethnicity_and_social_class">Ethnicity and social class</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Ethnicity and social class"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The most elaborate and in-depth studies of social class have focused on the working class, especially regarding occupation, immigration, ethnicity, family structure, education, occupational mobility, religious behavior, and neighborhood structure.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Before 1970, historians emphasized the success and the painful processes of assimilation into American culture, as studied by <a href="/wiki/Oscar_Handlin" title="Oscar Handlin">Oscar Handlin</a>. In recent decades the internal value systems have been explored, as well as the process of occupational mobility. Most of the studies have been localized (because of the need for the exhaustive use of censuses and local data) so that generalizations have been difficult to make. In recent years European scholars have become interested in the international flows so that there are now studies following people from Europe to America over their lifetimes. </p><p>Labor historians have moved from a focus on national labor unions to microscopic studies of the workers in particular industries in particular cities. The consensus has been that the workers had their own political and cultural value system. The political values were based on a producer's ethic, that is the working class was the truly productive sector of society, and expressed a version of republicanism that was similar to the middle class version.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This enabled the businessman's party, <a href="/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_Republican_Party" class="mw-redirect" title="History of the United States Republican Party">the Republican party</a>, to enjoy a strong base among Protestant blue collar workers, and prevented the emergence of a strong Socialist movement. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="20th_century">20th century</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: 20th century"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Progressive_Era" title="Progressive Era">Progressive Era</a>, with its emphasis on factualism and scientific inquiry produced hundreds of community studies, mostly using descriptive statistics to cover issues of poverty, crime, migration, religiosity, education, and public health. The emergence of systematic social science, especially sociology, shifted the center of class studies into sociology departments. The most representative example was the <i>Middletown</i> books by <a href="/wiki/Robert_Staughton_Lynd" title="Robert Staughton Lynd">Robert Lynd</a> and Helen Lynd, which gave a microscopic look at class structures in a typical small city (Muncie, Indiana). After 1960 localized studies gave way to national surveys, with special emphasis on the process of social mobility and stratification. </p><p>A classic theme was trying to see if the middle class was shrinking, or if the opportunities for upward mobility had worsened over time. After 1960 a growing concern with education led to many studies dealing with racial integration, and performance in schools by racial and gender groupings. </p><p>The disposable income of the <a href="/wiki/American_upper_class" title="American upper class">American upper class</a> was sharply reduced by high income tax rates during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. During this period corporate executives had relatively modest incomes, lived modestly, and had few servants.<sup id="cite_ref-Fortune1955_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Fortune1955-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="In_popular_culture">In popular culture</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: In popular culture"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The existence of class differences in American society has long been the focus of popular culture, whether in the form of books, films, or plays. Social class, for example, is a theme used in the 1948 production <i><a href="/wiki/Mister_Roberts_(play)" title="Mister Roberts (play)">Mister Roberts</a></i>, in a scene where the ship's captain displays resentment toward the title character, contrasting his own impoverished background to that of Roberts himself: </p> <dl><dd>I think you're a pretty smart boy. I may not talk very good, Mister, but I know how to take care of smart boys. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you a little secret. I hate your guts, you college son-of-a-****! You think you're better than I am! You think you're better because you've had everything handed to you. Let me tell you something, Mister – I've worked since I was ten years old, and all my life I've known you superior bastards. I knew you people when I was a kid in <a href="/wiki/Boston" title="Boston">Boston</a> and I worked in eating-places and you ordered me around ... "Oh bus-boy! My friend here seems to have thrown up on the table. Clean it up, please!" I started going to sea as a steward and I worked for you then ... "Steward, take my magazine out to the deck chair!" ... "Steward, I don't like your looks. Please keep out of my way as much as possible!" Well, I took that crap! I took that for years from pimple-faced bastards who weren't good enough to wipe my nose! And now I don't have to take it any more! There's a war on, by God, and I'm the Captain and you can wipe my nose! The worst thing I can do to you is to keep you on this ship! And that's where you're going to stay! Now get out of here.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Agriculture">Agriculture</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Agriculture"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Agricultural_history_of_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Agricultural history of the United States">Agricultural history of the United States</a></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Farm_workers">Farm workers</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Farm workers"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Before industrialization, "yeoman farmers"—self-sufficient, politically independent landowners—made up a large portion of the country's population. <a href="/wiki/Jeffersonian_democracy" title="Jeffersonian democracy">Jeffersonian democracy</a> and <a href="/wiki/Jacksonian_democracy" title="Jacksonian democracy">Jacksonian democracy</a> successfully expanded the political rights of the yeomen, and the geographical extent of the nation to provide them farms. This culminated in the <a href="/wiki/Homestead_Act_of_1862" class="mw-redirect" title="Homestead Act of 1862">Homestead Act of 1862</a> which provided hundreds of thousands of free farms. Before 1865 large southern plantations used <a href="/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States" title="Slavery in the United States">slaves</a>. After <a href="/wiki/Abolitionism_in_the_United_States" title="Abolitionism in the United States">emancipation</a>, a system of <a href="/wiki/Sharecropping" title="Sharecropping">sharecropping</a> and <a href="/wiki/Tenant_farming" class="mw-redirect" title="Tenant farming">tenant farming</a> for both whites and blacks in the <a href="/wiki/Southern_United_States" title="Southern United States">South</a> provided a semi-independent status for farmers who did not own their land. In contemporary times, migrant agricultural workers—mostly Mexicans—perform field and packing work.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Agriculture_in_the_21st_century">Agriculture in the 21st century</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Agriculture in the 21st century"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Only 0.7% of the population of the United States is employed in the agricultural sector as of 2007.<sup id="cite_ref-CIA_factbook,_United_States_labor_force_by_economic_sector_17-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-CIA_factbook,_United_States_labor_force_by_economic_sector-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Most are proprietors of independent farms. Once the dominant American social class, this group diminished in overall numbers during the 20th century, as farm holdings grew more consolidated, farming operations became more mechanized, and most of the population <a href="/wiki/Rural_flight" title="Rural flight">migrated to urban areas</a>.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (May 2024)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>Today, the agricultural sector has essentially taken on the characteristics of business and industry generally. In contemporary usage, a "farmer" is someone who owns and operates a farm, which more often than not will be a sizable business enterprise; "agricultural workers" or "farm workers", who perform the actual work associated with farming, typically come out of the lower classes; indeed, they are often near-destitute immigrants or <a href="/wiki/Migrant_farm_worker" class="mw-redirect" title="Migrant farm worker">migrant farm workers</a>. In this respect, farming mirrors big business: like any enterprise, a farm has owners (who may be a family or a corporation), salaried managers, supervisors, foremen and workers. </p><p>With the number of farms steadily diminishing, the stereotypical humble homestead is increasingly the exception, for viable farming now means agribusiness; the large amounts of capital required to operate a competitive farm require large-scale organization. The large landowners in <a href="/wiki/California" title="California">California</a>'s <a href="/wiki/California_Central_Valley" class="mw-redirect" title="California Central Valley">Central Valley</a>, <a href="/wiki/Coachella_Valley" title="Coachella Valley">Coachella Valley</a> and <a href="/wiki/Imperial_Valley_(California)" class="mw-redirect" title="Imperial Valley (California)">Imperial Valley</a> fall squarely within the upper class. Among farmers, "income" in the conventional sense is not an accurate standard of wealth measurement, because farmers typically keep their official income low by placing their assets into farming corporations rather than drawing the money directly. The stereotypical poor, marginal farmer "eking out a living" from the soil, an image deeply ingrained in most Americans' minds by folklore, films, and even history texts, has now been largely displaced by agribusiness, which has bought them out and consolidated their holdings.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239009302">.mw-parser-output .portalbox{padding:0;margin:0.5em 0;display:table;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:175px;list-style:none}.mw-parser-output .portalborder{border:1px solid 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class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFKatherine_S._Newman1988" class="citation book cs1">Katherine S. Newman (1988). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=KGfn843jVT0C&pg=PR4"><i>Falling from Grace: Downward Mobility in the Age of Affluence</i></a>. University of California Press. p. 4. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-520-21842-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-520-21842-0"><bdi>978-0-520-21842-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Falling+from+Grace%3A+Downward+Mobility+in+the+Age+of+Affluence&rft.pages=4&rft.pub=University+of+California+Press&rft.date=1988&rft.isbn=978-0-520-21842-0&rft.au=Katherine+S.+Newman&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DKGfn843jVT0C%26pg%3DPR4&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASocial+class+in+American+history" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jack P. Greene, and <a href="/wiki/Jack_Pole" title="Jack Pole">J. R. Pole</a>, eds. <i>A Companion to the American Revolution</i> (2004), pp 195–234</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Robert E. Mutch, "Colonial America and the debate about transition to capitalism." Theory and Society 9.6 (1980): 847-863. [<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.academia.edu/download/50523259/bf0016909220161124-5872-1xcfb8f.pdf">https://www.academia.edu/download/50523259/bf0016909220161124-5872-1xcfb8f.pdf</a> online </span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Richard Hogan, <i>Class and community in frontier Colorado</i> (University Press of Kansas, 2021.) </span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFOwsley1949" class="citation book cs1">Owsley, Frank Lawrence (1949). <i>Plain Folk of the Old South</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Plain+Folk+of+the+Old+South&rft.date=1949&rft.aulast=Owsley&rft.aufirst=Frank+Lawrence&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASocial+class+in+American+history" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Orville Vernon Burton, <i>In My Father's House Are Many Mansions: Family and Community in Edgefield, South Carolina</i> (U. of North Carolina Press, 1985)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Stephanie McCurry, <i>Masters of Small Worlds: Yeoman Households, Gender Relations, and the Political Culture of the Antebellum South Carolina Low Country</i> (1995)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Matthew O. Hunt, and Rashawn Ray. "Social class identification among Black Americans: Trends and determinants, 1974–2010." <i>American Behavioral Scientist</i> 56.11 (2012): 1462-1480. </span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Courtney S. Thomas, "A new look at the Black middle class: Research trends and challenges." <i>Sociological Focus</i> 48.3 (2015): 191-207. </span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Stanley Sue, and Sumie Okazaki. "Asian-American educational achievements: A phenomenon in search of an explanation." in <i>The New Immigrants and American Schools</i> (Routledge, 2022) pp. 297-304.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Stephan Thernstrom, <i>The Other Bostonians: Poverty and Progress in the American Metropolis, 1880–1970</i> (1973)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sean Wilentz, <i>The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln</i> (2005)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2701818">Wilentz, Sean. "On Class and Politics in Jacksonian America" Reviews in American History, Vol. 10, No. 4, The Promise of American History: Progress and Prospects (Dec., 1982) pp. 45–63</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Fortune1955-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Fortune1955_14-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121129024508/http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/06/classic-top-500-executives/">"How top executives live (Fortune, 1955)"</a>. <i>Fortune</i>. CNNMoney. 1955. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/06/classic-top-500-executives/">the original</a> on November 29, 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">November 20,</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Fortune&rft.atitle=How+top+executives+live+%28Fortune%2C+1955%29&rft.date=1955&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Ffeatures.blogs.fortune.cnn.com%2F2012%2F05%2F06%2Fclassic-top-500-executives%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASocial+class+in+American+history" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Sociology: Third Edition by Paul B. Horton and Chester L. Hunt</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">John L. Shover. <i>First Majority, Last Minority: The Transforming of Rural Life in America</i> (1976)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-CIA_factbook,_United_States_labor_force_by_economic_sector-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-CIA_factbook,_United_States_labor_force_by_economic_sector_17-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states/">"CIA factbook, United States labor force by economic sector"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">February 15,</span> 2007</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=CIA+factbook%2C+United+States+labor+force+by+economic+sector&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cia.gov%2Fthe-world-factbook%2Fcountries%2Funited-states%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ASocial+class+in+American+history" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">R. Douglas Hurt, <i>American Agriculture: A Brief History</i> (2002); John T Schlebecker. <i>Whereby we thrive: A history of American farming, 1607–1972</i> (1972) (<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8138-0090-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-8138-0090-0">0-8138-0090-0</a>)</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Barr, Donald A. <i>Health disparities in the United States: Social class, race, ethnicity, and the social determinants of health</i> (JHU Press, 2019).</li></ul> <ul><li>Beckert, Sven, and Julia B. Rosenbaum, eds. <i>The American Bourgeoisie: Distinction and Identity in the Nineteenth Century</i> (Palgrave Macmillan; 2011) 284 pages; Scholarly studies on the habits, manners, networks, institutions, and public roles of the American middle class with a focus on cities in the North.</li> <li>Beeghley, L. <i>The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States</i> (Pearson, Allyn & Bacon; 2004).</li> <li>Bolton, Charles C. "Planters, Plain Folk, and Poor Whites in the Old South." in Lacy K. Ford, ed., <i>A Companion to the Civil War and Reconstruction,</i> (2005) 75–93.</li></ul> <ul><li>Brown, David. "A vagabond's tale: poor whites, herrenvolk democracy, and the value of whiteness in the late antebellum South." <i>Journal of Southern History</i> 79.4 (2013): 799-840. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23799245online">[1]</a></li></ul> <ul><li>Coombs, Harriet. " 'Poor, deluded, ignorant masses': revisiting the poor non-slaveholding whites of the antebellum south." <i>American Nineteenth Century History</i> 23.3 (2022): 285-302.</li></ul> <ul><li>Flynt, J. Wayne, <i>Dixie's Forgotten People: The South's Poor Whites</i> (1979). deals with 20th century.</li> <li>Gilbert, D. <i>The American Class Structure: In An Age of Growing Inequality</i> (Wadsworth, 2002)</li> <li>Newby, I. A. <i>Plain Folk in the New South: Social Change and Cultural Persistence, 1880–1915</i> (1989). concentrates on the mill workers in the Carolinas and Georgia</li> <li>Owsley, Frank Lawrence. <i>Plain Folk of the Old South</i> (1949), the classic study</li> <li>Seal, Andrew. "Making Blanket Statements: Rethinking the History and Politics of American Social Class." <i>Journal of American Studies</i> 53.1 (2019): 280-286. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.academia.edu/download/60324966/Seal_-_Review_of_White_Trash_and_White_Working_Class20190818-62755-19e3jk8.pdf">online</a></li></ul> <ul><li>Staton, A. Renee, William Evans, and Christopher Lucey. "Understanding social class in the United States." in <i>Social class and the helping professions</i> (2012): 17-34. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=1d-hF216z30C&dq=%22social+class%22+%22United+States%22&pg=PA17">online</a></li></ul> <ul><li>Thernstrom, Stephan. <i>Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in a Nineteenth Century City</i> (1964)</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Primary_sources">Primary sources</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Primary sources"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Hartmut Keil and John B Jentz, eds. <i>German Workers in Chicago: A Documentary History of Working-Class Culture from 1850 to World War I</i> (1988), primary sources (in English translation)</li> <li>Robert S. McElvaine. ed; <i>Down & Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the "Forgotten Man" (1983)</i></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Social_class_in_American_history&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl 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]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Social_class" title="Template:Social class"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Social_class" title="Template talk:Social class"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Social_class" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Social class"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Social_class" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><div class="hlist"><ul><li><a href="/wiki/Social_class" title="Social class">Social class</a></li></ul></div></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><b><a href="/wiki/Social_status" title="Social status">Status</a></b></li> <li><b><a href="/wiki/Social_stratification" title="Social stratification">Stratum</a></b></li> <li><b><a href="/wiki/Economic_classes" class="mw-redirect" title="Economic classes">Economic classes</a></b></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:7em">Theories</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Elite_theory" title="Elite theory">Elite theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gilbert_model" title="Gilbert model">Gilbert model</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marxian_class_theory" title="Marxian class theory">Marxian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mudsill_theory" title="Mudsill theory">Mudsill theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/New_class" title="New class">New class</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spoon_class_theory" title="Spoon class theory">Spoon class theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Three-component_theory_of_stratification" title="Three-component theory of stratification">Weberian (three-component)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:7em">Related<wbr /> topics</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Caste" title="Caste">Caste</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chattering_classes" title="Chattering classes">Chattering classes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Class_conflict" title="Class conflict">Class conflict</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Class_discrimination" title="Class discrimination">Class discrimination</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Class_society" class="mw-redirect" title="Class society">Class society</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Class_traitor" title="Class traitor">Class traitor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Classicide" title="Classicide">Classicide</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Classless_society" title="Classless society">Classless society</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Euthenics" title="Euthenics">Euthenics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/High_society" title="High society">High society</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Nouveau_riche" title="Nouveau riche">Nouveau riche</a></i> / <i><a href="/wiki/Parvenu" title="Parvenu">Parvenu</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Poverty" title="Poverty">Poverty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ranked_society" title="Ranked society">Ranked society</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Snob" title="Snob">Snobbery</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_cleansing" title="Social cleansing">Social cleansing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_exclusion" title="Social exclusion">Social exclusion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_mobility" title="Social mobility">Social mobility</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_orphan" title="Social orphan">Social orphan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_position" title="Social position">Social position</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_stigma" title="Social stigma">Social stigma</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Subaltern_(postcolonialism)" title="Subaltern (postcolonialism)">Subaltern</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Status_Anxiety" title="Status Anxiety">Status Anxiety</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="By_demographic" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><div title="demographic">By demographic</div></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:7em">By status</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Administrative_detention" title="Administrative detention">Administrative detainee</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alien_(law)" title="Alien (law)">Alien</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Illegal_immigration" title="Illegal immigration">illegal immigrant</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Refugee" title="Refugee">refugee</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Citizenship" title="Citizenship">Citizen</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Multiple_citizenship" title="Multiple citizenship">dual or multiple</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jus_soli" title="Jus soli">native-born</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Naturalization" title="Naturalization">naturalized</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Second-class_citizen" title="Second-class citizen">second-class</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Clique" title="Clique">Clique</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Adolescent_clique" title="Adolescent clique">adolescent</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Loss_of_rights_due_to_conviction_for_criminal_offense" class="mw-redirect" title="Loss of rights due to conviction for criminal offense">Convicted</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Migrant_worker" title="Migrant worker">Migrant worker</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_prisoner" title="Political prisoner">Political prisoner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Socioeconomic_status" title="Socioeconomic status">Socioeconomic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statelessness" title="Statelessness">Stateless</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:7em">By "<a href="/wiki/Designation_of_workers_by_collar_color" title="Designation of workers by collar color">collar</a>"</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Blue-collar_worker" title="Blue-collar worker">Blue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Green-collar_worker" title="Green-collar worker">Green</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grey-collar" title="Grey-collar">Grey</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/New-collar_worker" title="New-collar worker">New</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pink-collar_worker" title="Pink-collar worker">Pink</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/White-collar_worker" title="White-collar worker">White</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:7em">By type</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Ruling_class" title="Ruling class">Ruling</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Aristocracy_(class)" title="Aristocracy (class)">Aristocracy</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Aristoi" title="Aristoi">Aristoi</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hanseaten_(class)" title="Hanseaten (class)">Hanseaten</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Magnate" title="Magnate">Magnate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Oligarchy" title="Oligarchy">Oligarchy</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Russian_oligarch" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian oligarch">Russian</a></li></ul></li> <li>Patrician <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Patrician_(ancient_Rome)" title="Patrician (ancient Rome)">Ancient Rome</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Patrician_(post-Roman_Europe)" title="Patrician (post-Roman Europe)">Post-Roman</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_class" title="Political class">Political</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Political_family" title="Political family">Family</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_political_families" title="List of political families">List</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hereditary_politicians" title="Hereditary politicians">Hereditary</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Royal_family" title="Royal family">Royal family</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Intellectual" title="Intellectual">Intellectual</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Clergy" title="Clergy">Clergy</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Priest" title="Priest">Priest</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Knowledge_worker" title="Knowledge worker">Knowledge worker</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Professor" title="Professor">Professor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scholar" title="Scholar">Scholar</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Warrior" title="Warrior">Warrior</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chhetri" title="Chhetri">Chhetri</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cossacks" title="Cossacks">Cossacks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eagle_warrior" title="Eagle warrior">Cuāuh</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harii" title="Harii">Harii</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Order_of_Assassins" title="Order of Assassins">Hashashin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Knight" title="Knight">Knight</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kshatriya" title="Kshatriya">Kshatriya</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nair_castes" class="mw-redirect" title="Nair castes">Nair</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jaguar_warrior" title="Jaguar warrior">Ocēlōtl</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pendekar" title="Pendekar">Pendekar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Samurai" title="Samurai">Samurai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spartiate" title="Spartiate">Spartiate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vanniyar" title="Vanniyar">Vanniyar</a>/<a href="/wiki/Vanniar_(Chieftain)" title="Vanniar (Chieftain)">Vanniar (Chieftain)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Upper_class" title="Upper class">Upper</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Business_magnate" title="Business magnate">Business magnate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elite" title="Elite">Elite</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gentry" title="Gentry">Gentry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lord" title="Lord">Lord</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nobility" title="Nobility">Nobility</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Landed_nobility" title="Landed nobility">Landed</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Petty_nobility" title="Petty nobility">Petty</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Old_money" title="Old money">Old money</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Overclass" title="Overclass">Overclass</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robber_baron_(industrialist)" title="Robber baron (industrialist)">Robber baron</a></li> <li><span title="French-language text"><i lang="fr"><a href="/wiki/Seigneur" title="Seigneur">Seigneur</a></i></span></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Superclass_(book)" title="Superclass (book)">Superclass</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Creative_class" title="Creative class">Creative</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bohemianism" title="Bohemianism">Bohemians</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Middle_class" title="Middle class">Middle</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bourgeoisie" title="Bourgeoisie">Bourgeoisie</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Petite_bourgeoisie" title="Petite bourgeoisie">Petite</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Burgher_(social_class)" title="Burgher (social class)">Burgher</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lower_middle_class" title="Lower middle class">Lower middle class</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Upper_middle_class" title="Upper middle class">Upper middle class</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Working_class" title="Working class">Working</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Commoner" title="Commoner">Commoner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lazzaroni_(Naples)" title="Lazzaroni (Naples)">Lazzaroni</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lumpenproletariat" title="Lumpenproletariat">Lumpenproletariat</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pea-pickers" title="Pea-pickers">Pea-pickers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peasant" title="Peasant">Peasant</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Precariat" title="Precariat">Precariat</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proletariat" title="Proletariat">Proletariat</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Working_poor" title="Working poor">Working poor</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Underclass" title="Underclass">Under</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ant_tribe" title="Ant tribe">Ant tribe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outcast_(person)" title="Outcast (person)">Outcast</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outlaw" title="Outlaw">Outlaw</a> / <a href="/wiki/Prisoner" title="Prisoner">Prisoner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Serfdom" title="Serfdom">Serf</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plebeians" title="Plebeians">Plebeian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rat_tribe" title="Rat tribe">Rat tribe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Slavery" title="Slavery">Slave</a> / <a href="/wiki/Freedman" title="Freedman">Freedman</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Untouchability" title="Untouchability">Untouchable</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="By_country_or_region" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><div title="country">By country or region</div></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th id="United_States" scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:7em"><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_the_United_States" title="Social class in the United States">United States</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Affluence_in_the_United_States" title="Affluence in the United States">Affluence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_Dream" title="American Dream">American Dream</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">History</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Socioeconomic_mobility_in_the_United_States" title="Socioeconomic mobility in the United States">Mobility</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Category:Social_class_in_the_United_States" title="Category:Social class in the United States">Classes</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/American_upper_class" title="American upper class">Upper</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/African-American_upper_class" title="African-American upper class">Black</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Donor_Class" class="mw-redirect" title="Donor Class">Donor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_gentry" title="American gentry">Gentry</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_middle_class" title="American middle class">Middle</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/African-American_middle_class" title="African-American middle class">Black</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mexican-American_middle_class" title="Mexican-American middle class">Mexican-American</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Upper_middle_class_in_the_United_States" title="Upper middle class in the United States">Upper Middle</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_privilege" title="Social privilege">Underprivileged</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/American_lower_class" title="American lower class">Lower</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States" title="Slavery in the United States">Under</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Income_in_the_United_States" title="Income in the United States">Income</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States" title="Household income in the United States">Household</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States" title="Income inequality in the United States">Inequality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States" title="Personal income in the United States">Personal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States" title="Poverty in the United States">Poverty</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Standard_of_living_in_the_United_States" title="Standard of living in the United States">Standard of living</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Educational_attainment_in_the_United_States" title="Educational attainment in the United States">Education</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_United_States" title="Homelessness in the United States">Homelessness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Home-ownership_in_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="Home-ownership in the United States">Home-ownership</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:7em">Other regions<wbr /> or countries</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Caste_systems_in_Africa" title="Caste systems in Africa">Africa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Belizean_society" title="Belizean society">Belize</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_Cambodia" title="Social class in Cambodia">Cambodia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_structure_of_China" title="Social structure of China">China</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_Colombia" title="Social class in Colombia">Colombia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_France" title="Social class in France">France</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_Haiti" title="Social class in Haiti">Haiti</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Caste_system_in_India" title="Caste system in India">India</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_Iran" title="Social class in Iran">Iran</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_Italy" title="Social class in Italy">Italy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_Luxembourg" title="Social class in Luxembourg">Luxembourg</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Caste_system_in_Nepal" title="Caste system in Nepal">Nepal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_New_Zealand" title="Social class in New Zealand">New Zealand</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_Nigeria" title="Social class in Nigeria">Nigeria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_structure_of_Romania" title="Social structure of Romania">Romania</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_Sri_Lanka" title="Social class in Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_Tibet" title="Social class in Tibet">Tibet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_the_United_Kingdom" title="Social class in the United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_the_United_States" title="Social class in the United States">United States</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:7em">Historic</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_18th-century_Spain" title="Social class in 18th-century Spain">18th-century Spain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Category:Social_classes_in_ancient_Greece" title="Category:Social classes in ancient Greece">Ancient Greece</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_ancient_Rome" title="Social class in ancient Rome">Ancient Rome</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_Aztec_society" title="Social class in Aztec society">Aztec</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Social_class_in_the_Ottoman_Empire" title="Social class in the Ottoman Empire">Ottoman Empire</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Four_occupations" title="Four occupations">Pre-industrial East Asia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Estates_of_the_realm" title="Estates of the realm">Pre-industrial Europe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_working_class" title="Soviet working class">Soviet Union</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2" style="font-weight:normal;"><div> <ul><li><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="Category"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/16px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" 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