Food defined social hierarchy in colonial America, historians say
11 reported
According to a single-source report from NPR, food served as a primary marker of social class in 1776, with the wealthy emulating European cuisine while the enslaved and working class ate simpler fare. The article, published on June 28, 2026, draws on interviews with food historians and visits to historic sites in Annapolis, Maryland, to describe how diets reflected status. The Founding Fathers, including Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, were trendsetters who relied on enslaved chefs like James Hemings and Hercules Posey. Taverns served as social centers for average folk, who ate similar foods to the wealthy but without refined ingredients. The report notes that seafood like rockfish and crab dominated Maryland colonists' diets, and that alcohol consumption was high due to a lack of clean water.
What’s reported
Arthur Gross has been chef at Middleton Tavern in Annapolis for 50 years; the tavern is 276 years old.
In 1776, seafood such as rockfish and crab dominated many early colonists' diets in Maryland.
Social class defined the food that colonists and the enslaved ate 250 years ago.
The Founding Fathers and gentry class relied on recipes from France and England and imported some food from Europe.
Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and others defined the food of the time period, according to food historians.
Jefferson was a Francophile who enjoyed macaroni and cheese, beef à la mode, black-eyed peas, turnip greens, and ham.
Washington was concerned about his image and avoided conspicuous luxury at dinner parties.
Enslaved chefs James Hemings (for Jefferson) and Hercules Posey (for Washington) were key to the cuisine.
Enslaved cooks often had rations of cornmeal, sweet potatoes, rice, molasses, and smoked or salted meat, and supplemented by hunting and foraging.
Working-class people ate similar foods to the wealthy but without white flour or sugar, and more pork, ham, bacon, sausage, liver pudding, and offal.
Colonists drank small beer or weak wine because they lacked ways to purify water; alcohol consumption was "staggering."
Key figures
Arthur Gross, chef at Middleton Tavern in Annapolis
Dana Connett, community programs coordinator at Historic Annapolis
Joyce White, local food historian
Adrian Miller, author of The President's Kitchen Cabinet
Sarah Lohman, food historian and author of Eight Flavors
Ashley Rose Young, food historian and American history curator at the Library of Congress
Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father
George Washington, Founding Father
John Adams, Founding Father
James Hemings, enslaved chef for Jefferson
Hercules Posey, enslaved chef for Washington
Sources: NPR
