Oklahoma Academic Standard 2. The student will compare the developments of the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. 

Objective 5.2.7   Compare daily life in the colonies as experienced by different social classes, plantation owners, farmers, merchants, craftsmen, artisans, and women and children.   

In a Nutshell

This objective encourages students to examine the degree that social class played in determining everyday life in the British colonies. Students should compare the degree of physical labor and standard of living between the wealthier classes, the middle class tradesmen or merchants, and farmers. In addition, students should develop an understanding of the typical lives of women and children, based on their social class. 

Teacher Action 

Student Action 

• Assist students in describing the similarities and differences of the social classes in the colonies.

• Assist students in explaining how political and economics influenced the ways that people worked and lived based on their social classes.

• Compare the perspectives of women and children in different social classes of early colonial America..

• Compose informative essays and written products by introducing and developing a topic, incorporating evidence and maintaining an organized structure in order to compare experiences of various colonial groups.

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

• social class

• class relationship to economic activities, such as plantation owners, farmers, merchants, craftsmen, artisans

• political rights related to property ownership 

• status and  rights of women,

• family responsibilities and role of children 

• Some students may mistakenly assume that all immigrants to the colonies experienced equal opportunities, as opposed to the reality that social classes developed in the British colonies and created similar economic and political limitations as in Europe.

Instructional Resources