Looking back into history, we will be able to find some comparisons and contrasts to the characteristics of the upper class today and in the days of General Robert E. Lee. What we will show is how the characteristic of today's upper class does not differ much from the characteristic of General Lee's upper class. The upper class in the United States can best be characterized as highly educated, marriage and or family oriented and predominately white. Generally speaking at least one adult in the household works in an executive level position. Some sort of social activism, i.e., sitting on boards, working as charity chairperson organizing or directing some community based organization, is done by one or both parents or in no marriage situations by the individual. Another striking characteristic of the upper class in America is the education process. Couples with children begin high quality education and socialization at an early age, enrolling children in preparatory schools, and various social activities as a way of early indoctrination to upper class expectation, and responsibilities. School plays a pivotal role in the future of children in the upper class and can be considered the birth place of the "good ole boy, and more and more now, the good ole girl network," this connection will be vital in each child's mobility and potential worth. .
Things have changed in the United States drastically since the days of Lee but the more things change the more they stay the same. The makeup of class characteristics has remained pretty much intact with little or no change. Financially speaking, the modern day upper class of the Untied States is a combination of both extensive property owners as well as business and finance executives. Both the upper class in Lee's time and ours, strived for success in business and the accumulation of wealth, which are still the foundation building blocks of the American Dream.
