Socio-economic Characteristics of Myrgorod Regiment Families (According to the General Description of the Left Bank of Ukraine 1765–1769)

The article, based on the analysis of the General Description of the Left Bank of Ukraine in 1765–1769, reveals some aspects and features of the socio-economic life of the families of the Myrhorod Regiment of the 1760s. The article emphasizes social stratifi cation of the population: wealthy, poor Cossack and peasant families. The property status of families of widows, commonwealths and neighbors is described. The main source used: the General description of Left-bank Ukraine of 1765–1769. The materials of separate census books of the Myrhorod Regiment were used for the fi rst time in Ukrainian historiography, which determines the scientifi c novelty of the publication. The article aims to study the socio-economic characteristics of individual families in the specifi ed geographical region. In preparing the article, the choice of research methods was made taking into account the main trends in the humanities: systematization, anthropologization and interdisciplinary links, taking into account the current state of scientifi c development of the outlined issues. The study used 4 groups of methods (traditional and innovative). The fi rst group includes general scientifi c methods, namely: historical, terminological and systemic, which are characterized by analysis and evaluation of historical events. The second group is characterized by interdisciplinary approaches, using statistical and mathematical methods. General historical methods make up the third group, among which comparative-historical and retrospective are used. The fourth group – source methods: identifi cation, selection, classifi cation, textual study, which made it possible to establish the objective value of sources for a particular study, to determine their information potential. Conclusions. When considering the socio-economic development of the families of the Myrhorod Regiment, it was concluded that belonging to a certain social group, the number of household members determined the level of their wealth. In determining the criteria of wealth, the following factors were considered: the number of property (movable and immovable), the condition of residential and commercial premises. The list of family members was important, indicating their status, which depended on age and mental factors. It was determined that the wealthiest were Cossack families, and the poorest were widow's families; the majority of the peasantry lived in poverty. The category of landless peasants turned out to be the least prosperous.