American Colonial Gentry

The following deffinition of the gentry in the American Colonies is from The Colonial Williamsburg Official History & Citizenship Site. "The gentry were the "upper crust" of colonial society. They were large landowners, very wealth merchants, and financiers. They owned hugh tracts of land and usually many slavers. Gentry men or gentlmen, too, it as their right and duty to govern others. They served as local magistrates, church vestrymen, and councilmen. Gentry ladies, or gentlewomen, were at the top of social class and colonial fashion."

Internet

 * The Colonial Williamsburg Official History & Citizenship Site