Les grands planteurs du Maryland au XVIIIe siècle : une élite politique et économique

This profile of the Maryland planter elite in 1776 is drawn from a collective biography of 78 delegates to the colonial assembly. The article charts the wealth in land and slaves of this "political class", which led the movement of independence from England, within the broader setting of a colony where black slaves made up a third of the total population and where half of the white population owned at least one slave. This political elite was remarkably homogeneous in its source of income, age structure, professional functions, military service, country of origin, and religious affiliation. Most of the delegates were members of political dynasties who had held seats in the Maryland colonial assembly for generations.Forster Robert, Papenfuse Edward C. Les grands planteurs du Maryland au XVIIIe siècle : une élite politique et économique. In: Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations. 37ᵉ année, N. 3, 1982. pp. 552-573