In terms of social status, New England was also less stratified than other colonies. Most of the colonists were free men and women, some were minor gentry, but none were aristocrats, members of the highest strata of English society.
Colonial leaders often had some connections among the elites in England, yet their position in the colonies was not necessarily contingent on those connections. Officials were elected by the colonists, and it mattered little how well-connected they were. Their ability to retain power depended not on the generosity of London benefactors but on the support they could muster among the colonists. Sure, those with friends in high places were useful—they may be sent to England to speak on behalf of the colonies, and they were protected to a degree; on several occasions, the transgressions of such individuals were punished by exile instead of harsher measures specifically to avoid the wrath of their patrons.