Opportunity in Colonial America

In Colonial America the level of opportunity available for each resident depended upon how much money they had, where they live, and what position they held in the social hierarchy. In this time as well as in today's society money rules over everything. Colonists leave their homelands not only to gain religious freedom, but to free themselves from the poverty they live in everyday in Britain. Colonial America offered an opportunity to start fresh. In Colonial America the more money you had the more opportunity you had. Those on the bottom, slaves and often times Native Americans, had their fate sealed they had no money to buy land or livestock or anything for that matter. They worked for someone else against their will and they worked hard, "fare hard" through all the "fatigue which the poor wretches [had undergone]" (Doc 5). Farmers, even though they were not the richest people, were able to work for themselves and live off of their own labor. They raised livestock and grew crops then sold them to the bigger towns for profit. Farmers were free in a sense but were limited to what they could do with the money they had. "Gentlemen", were the high society citizens of the colonies. These men were the elite. They could do almost anything they desired because of the money and power they possessed. Men of this stature had plenty of opportunities in Colonial America. Each colony had a specific trade or product that they could offer to an adjacent settlement or even back to their homeland. The location of the colony determined what that product or service would be and this gave opportunity to the colonists that resided there. The most prominent of the colonies, New England, "[was] one of the largest and most flourishing towns in North America" (Doc 4). In the New England region they had a great coast line which opened opportunities to fisherman and whalers. It also had a great amount of forest, which opened a window for ship builders and carpenters who were skilled in