Class Structure in the North Carolina Colony

Yes, colonial North Carolina had a rigid three-tier class system:

• Elite (Planter/Merchant Class): Wealthy landowners, slaveholders, merchants; dominated politics (assembly, council), justice, militia.
• Middle Class (Yeomen/Artisans): Small farmers owning land, craftsmen, shopkeepers; voted but held little office.
• Lower Class:
  • Indentured servants (contract labor, 4–7 years).
  • Enslaved Africans (chattel slavery, hereditary, no rights).
  • Landless poor, free Blacks (restricted rights).

Wealth, race, and kinship determined status. The elite's power persisted long after independence.