FIGURE 6.1 Middling Men Enter the Halls of Government, 1765–1790
Before the Revolution, wealthy men (with assets of £2,000 or more, as measured by tax lists and probate records) dominated most colonial assemblies. The power of money was especially apparent in the southern colonies, where representatives worth at least £5,000 formed a majority of the legislators. However, in the new American republic, the proportion of middling legislators (yeomen farmers and others worth less than £2,000) increased dramatically, especially in the northern states. Adapted from Jackson T. Main, “Government by the People: The American Revolution and the Democratization of the Legislatures,” by Jackson T. Main in William and Mary Quarterly, series 3, 23 (1966). Used by permission of William and Mary Quarterly, Omohundro Institute of Early History and Culture.