The Anti-Federalists by Jackson Main, 1961, Edited Excerpts
The Untied Sates consisted in the 1780’s of a number of sections and subsections, each with a distinctive social structure, economy, and set of political objectives. The existence of classes was clearly recognized, three were distinguished. They were, as Patrick Henry expressed it, the well-born, the middle, and the lower ranks. Property, not birth, was the major factor in determining class structure.
The well-to-do were greater and lesser planters, merchants in towns and in cities, speculators and landlords, lawyers and ship owners, “River Gods” and “manor lords” – each had particular economic and political aspirations. They did not always agree with one another, yet they did share similar attitudes toward property and politics.
The merchants and their allies were usually supported by those farmers who were producing for urban consumption or for export, and who recognized that their welfare depended upon commercial prosperity. The key here is not so much the size of the farm as its location with respect to the market. The great plantations, with their slaves and wealthy masters, developed along the rivers, not so much because of the alluvial soil as because of the transportation facilities.
Frontier farmers interests was not so connected with commerce. Typically, they were unable to produce a large surplus either because the land was inferior, or because they lacked the means [slaveless, for instance], or because they were too distant from a market. Since it was difficult to accumulate wealth under such circumstances, the vast majority were small property holders in a local society wherein wealth was more equally distributed.
Frontier society, from
An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the
In an examination of the structure of American society in 1787, there were those whose economic status had a definite legal expression but were not represented in the Convention which drafted the Constitution.: [1] the slaves, [2] the indentured servants, [3] the mass of men who could not qualify for voting under the property tests, and [4] women, disfranchised and subjected to the discriminations of the common law.
In no state had the working-class developed a consciousness of a separate interest or an organization that commanded the attention of the politicians of the time. The working-class were outside the realm of politics, except in so far as the future power of the proletariat was foreseen and feared.
