Upper ten thousand, or simply, ''The Upper Ten'', is a 19th-century phrase referring to the wealthiest 10,000 residents of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The phrase was coined in 1844 by American poet and author

Nathaniel Parker Willis Nathaniel Parker Willis (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867), also known as N. P. Willis,Baker, 3 was an American writer, poet and editor who worked with several notable American writers including Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfello ...

. Soon, the term came to be used to describe the upper circles not only of New York, but also those of other major cities.

Usages

In 1852, Charles Astor Bristed published a collection of sketches on New York Society entitled "The Upper Ten Thousand" in ''Fraser Magazine''. In 1854, George Lippard serialized his book ''New York: Its Upper Ten and Lower Million''. The phrase also appeared in British fiction in '' The Adventures of Philip'' (1861–62) by

William Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

, whose eponymous hero contributed weekly to a fashionable New York journal entitled ''The Gazette of the Upper Ten Thousand''. The general acceptance of the term seems to be attested by its use in the title of Edward Abbott's 1864 cookery book, '' The English and Australian Cookery Book: Cookery for the Many as Well as the "Upper Ten Thousand"''. In 1875, both Adam Bissett Thom and Kelly's Directory published books entitled ''The Upper Ten Thousand'', which listed members of the aristocracy, the gentry, officers in the British Army and Navy, members of Parliament, colonial administrators, and members of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. The usage of this term was a response to the broadening of the British

ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the class who own the means of production in a given society and apply ...

which had been caused by the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

. Most of the people listed in ''Kelly's Handbook to the Upper Ten Thousand'' were among the 30,000 descendants of Edward III, King of England, tabulated in the Marquis of Ruvigny and Raineval's ''Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal''. Most also appeared in Walford's '' County Families'' and Burke's ''

Landed Gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

''.

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

referred to

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

as being in the Upper Ten Thousand in his 1941 speech declaring war against the United States, while juxtaposing himself as " haring hisfate with millions of others."

References

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External links

Photographs and anecdotes of typical Upper Ten Thousand Victorians and Edwardians
* Adam Bisset Thom,
The Upper Ten Thousand
' (1875) 1840s neologisms Social class in the United States British biographical dictionaries 19th century in the United Kingdom Social history of the United Kingdom 19th century in New York City Social history of the United States Oligarchy High society (social class) Upper class culture in New York City Edward III of England

Usages

See also

References

External links