Food defined social hierarchy in colonial America, historians say
8 reported
According to a single-source report from NPR, food served as a primary marker of social class in 1776, with wealthy colonists and Founding Fathers emulating European cuisine while enslaved people prepared the meals. The article, based on interviews with historians and a visit to historic sites in Annapolis, Maryland, describes how the gentry class relied on recipes from France and England and imported some food from Europe. Enslaved cooks, including James Hemings and Hercules Posey, prepared elaborate dishes for figures like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, while working-class colonists ate simpler versions of the same foods. The report notes that seafood like rockfish and crab dominated diets in Maryland, and that taverns served as social and political centers with varying food quality.
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 diets of many early colonists in Maryland.
The William Paca House & Garden shows a representation of a spring meal with turkey soup, fried shad, collards, ham, asparagus, oysters, and roast chicken.
Beef was the most sought-after meat as a status symbol, according to food historian Joyce White.
Thomas Jefferson loved macaroni and historical records show he toyed with schematics for a macaroni-maker, per food historian Ashley Rose Young.
Enslaved chefs James Hemings (for Jefferson) and Hercules Posey (for Washington) were well-known; Jefferson took Hemings to Paris to train in French cuisine.
Working-class people ate the same food as the wealthy but without processed items like white flour or sugar, and ate more pork, ham, bacon, sausage, liver pudding, and offal.
Colonists drank small beer or weak wine because they lacked ways to purify water, according to author Adrian Miller.
Key figures
Arthur Gross, chef at Middleton Tavern
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
