Episode 190: Jennifer Goloboy, Origins of the American Middle Class

by Holly WhiteJune 12, 2018

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As many as 70 percent of Americans consider themselves to be members of the middle class. But if you consider income as a qualifier for membership, only about 50 percent of Americans qualify for membership.

So what does it mean to be middle class and why do so many Americans want to be members of it?

Jennifer Goloboy, an independent scholar based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the author of Charleston and the Emergence of Middle-Class Culture in the Revolutionary Era, helps us explore the origins of the American middle class so we can better understand what it is and why so many Americans want to be a part of it.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Jennifer Goloboy , an independent scholar based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the author of Charleston and the Emergence of Middle-Class Culture in the Revolutionary Era, helps us explore the origins of the American middle class.

During our investigation, Jennie reveals how people in early America defined “middle class”; Details about merchants in early America, the work they performed, and why they were often members of the early American middle class; And, information about who could be members of the early American middle class.

What You’ll Discover

What it meant to be middle class in early America
Charleston, South Carolina as a city of merchants
Henry Laurens
Merchants in early America and the work they performed
Merchants and the early American middle class
How someone became a merchant
Mobility of merchants
Gentility
African Americans and the middle class in early America
Relationships between merchants and African American women
Denmark Vesey Rebellion
Women as merchants in South Carolina
How Charleston women identified as middle class
The colonial economy of Charleston
The economy of Charleston during the American Revolution
The early republic economy
The African Slave Trade and South Carolina
Slavery and its impact on the early American middle class

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Jennifer Goloboy
Jennifer Goloboy on Twitter: @JennieGoloboy
Charleston and the Emergence of Middle-Class Culture in the Revolutionary Era
The Papers of Henry Laurens
Ellen Hartigan-O’Connor,The Ties that Buy: Women and Commerce in Revolutionary America
Boston History Camp, July 7
Boston Meet Up: July 8, 10am Meet at the corner of Park Street and Tremont Street on Boston Common
Cleveland Meet Up: Saturday July 21
Send Liz your questions about early American history for Episode 200

Sponsor Links

Omohundro Institute
Susan Sleeper-Smith, Indigenous Prosperity and American Conquest: Indian Women of the Ohio River Valley, 1690-1792
Join the BFWorld listener community on Facebook

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Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if the American Revolution hadn’t happened? How would the development of the American middle class have been different if the 13 colonies had remained a part of the British Empire?