Take Virginia, the first Southern colony, for instance. Before long, the class inequalities embedded in English society were reproduced and intensified in the colonies. So America became a dumping ground for England’s criminals, orphans and poor, who were then tasked with building up the first English colonies in America. The vast, undeveloped and unoccupied landmass of North America seemed free for the taking – to the English, the “uncivilized” natives didn’t count as the country’s custodians. In the 1600s, America presented England’s ruling class with a rare opportunity to get rid of the poor and profit from it. The nation’s early history laid the foundations for its future class-based society. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was the United States.
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