A paper on Social and Political Diversity in the 18th century.

1. Social and Political Diversity in 18th Century America.
The eighteen century covers the years from1660-1830 the eighteen century was a
very long century. During the eighteen century some very famous quotes were written
and continue to be used today. One quote that was used by Dr. Martin Luther King during
his I Have a Dream Speech “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are
created equal, that was the part of the quote that Dr. King used but the quote continued
with these words that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,
and among these are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.-Declaration of Independence.
A quote written by Patrick Henry was ‘I know not what course others may take; but as
for me, give me liberty or give me death. I suspect that these beautiful quotations that
were written during the eighteen century applied to the struggles that many of the people
experienced and the culture should not have been as much of an issue as the struggle of
the times.
In the 18th social diversity was based on class. In the South many young people
were sent to work as indentured servants. These people were given food, shelter and
clothing for their services but they weren’t given pay. These people were Promised Land
if they worked for up to 4 years only half got land others died from diseases and or they
worked cheap labor. By the 18th century indentured servants decreased because England’s
population growth slowed down. The decrease in the population growth of England led to
large planters and many of them were powerful and wealthy. This led to the idea of
getting African slaves to work their estates. Slaves weren’t paid anything they worked the
land in exchange for very little food or clothing. They did what they were told or they
were beaten brutally. The oppressed became the oppressors in the 18th century South in
America.
Most people in North America were farmers also the work was very difficult and it
lasted from dawn to dusk. In the 18th century Southern Plantations were next to farms. In
North America the work was similar to the work in England. The people had jobs as
Carpenters, Coopers, Tanners, Millers and Blacksmiths. In the 18th century most people
had trades that they had specialized in such as: gunsmiths, locksmiths, clock and watch

2. makers. It is no surprise that a lot of the jobs were similar since The Colonies of America
were once called British Colonies. There were still another group of settlers that came on
a ship by the name of The Mayflower they arrived December 11, 1620. They were
fleeing religious persecution in England, they didn’t agree with the church teachings in
England. They were called pilgrims, but they didn’t call themselves Pilgrims. Half the
Colonists did not survive the first year in North America. The Natives of America taught
the Pilgrims how to grow crops and this saved their lives in the future. The Natives didn’t
have resistance to the diseases that the European Settlers brought so many Natives died
from diseases. The British Colonies grew in numbers and as time went on conflict
developed between the European Settlers and the natives. There was a war from
1637-1638 and the result was the slaughter and destruction of The Pequot tribe. There
were more conflicts and many deaths on both sides but the natives suffered the most
many natives died in large numbers giving Colonists the upper hand over New England.
In 1692 there were more deaths in New England form the Salem Witch Trials.
The Politics of this era were complex in that the Colonists attempted to rule
themselves but they were still being ruled by England. The Colonists wanted to be free
from England and this resulted in an eventual war. During the war the Colonists
continued to speak of freedom and this resulted in the writing of The Declaration of
Independence in 1776. Americans won Independence in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris;
they began to establish a new nation and government. The founders began by writing the
Articles of Confederation a document which was not effective. In 1787, delegates came
together in Philadelphia to revise the Articles, they eventually threw the articles away and
this resulted in The Bill of Rights. America began its life as a free and Independent
nation.
America was free as an Independent nation but there was another culture that wasn’t,
slavery continued in America along time after slavery was discontinued in England the
Motherland, but also the land of bondage for Americans of European decent. Slavery
became illegal in 1774 and was completely ruled out in 1807. Slavery ended in America
in 1865 two years after The Emancipation Proclamation.