COLONIAL LIFE

1. COLONIAL LIFE clothing food furniture Find the topic you will research with your partner and click on it! family life earning a living servants and slaves fun and games houses religion schooling

2. CLOTHING The great majority of colonists did not dress elegantly. Most families bought long-wearing linen or flannel and made their own clothing. In rural New England and on the distant frontier, people often made their own cloth. Day after day the women sat at home sewing the dull green, brown, or mottled gray material. They also patched and altered clothing as long as there was any wear left. Men wore coats, vests, shirts, kneebreeches (short pants), and long stockings. Laboring men often wore tough leather breeches. Women wore long, full dresses and shawls. Only the most wealthy people could afford to wear clothes of fine wool, silk, or velvet, as these fabrics were imported from England and were very expensive. HOME

3. FOOD People who lived on the Atlantic coast often caught fish and whales. They sold fish and whale blubber at fish markets, which were usually down by the docks.  Farmers who grew wheat, barley, corn, tobacco, or rice hauled their crops to a town market, where the crops were sold to people in that town or to traders who would ship the goods to other colonies. (These traders would send the goods by boat, on rivers or along the ocean coast, or on wagons.) A great many American colonists also took care of their own food needs. It was not uncommon for a farm family to have crops  growing near the ocean while chickens, pigs, and cows were grazing nearby and for that same family to fish for clams and other fish down at the oceanside. Next page This way, the family wouldn't have to buy food from anyone else. They might have apple trees and rows of corn and wheat. They might turn that corn into cornbread or cornmeal mush. They might turn that wheat into flour themselves and use it to bake bread. They might also hunt wild animals, like deer, rabbits, and turkeys. HOME

4. FOOD Even more time went into keeping the family fed. Where labor was scarce, a garden might have only cabbages, beans, corn, and pumpkins. Potatoes became common some time after the 1720's. More prosperous gardeners grew carrots, beets, turnips, onions, leeks, radishes, and melons. Apples, plums, cherries, peaches and pears came from the orchards. As for meat, flocks of chickens and ducks were to be found in farmyards, and the woods were teeming with wild game. Stories have come down to us from colonial times of great herds of 200 deer and of flocks of 100 wild turkeys. Deer were so plentiful that some frontier families ate venison (deer meat) for nine months every year. A 30-pound (14kg) turkey could be bought for about a shilling (then worth about 25 cents) in Pennsylvania. Pheasant, partridge, woodcock, and quail were hunted in large numbers. There were so many pigeons that flocks would darken the sky and break the limbs of trees on which they perched. Squirrels were so numerous that they became a problem, and many towns began paying a bounty for their heads. In 1749, in Pennsylvania, more than 600,000 squirrels were killed for bounties. Perch and trout were caught in the streams, and fish, clams, lobsters, turtles, and oysters were gathered from the sea. Although they had no refrigeration and did not know how to can foods, colonial families had ways of preserving their food. They dried beans and fruits, hung strings of onions in high, dry places, pickled cabbage in large crocks, and stored vegetables in a "root cellar." They salted, spiced, and smoked meats of all kinds. Many farmers even made their own beverages--cider, beer, and even brandy. HOME

5. FURNITURE In the 1600's most colonial furniture was plain but sturdy. Chairs, stools, beds, and tables were made out of unpainted oak, maple, or pine. Most rooms had large cupboards, since there were no built-in clothes closets. Some colonists cherished a few pieces of silver and some fine chairs of polished oak, which had been made in England. In the 1700's more people could afford to buy imported English goods, and fine pieces of brass and pewter began to brighten the rooms of most houses. Mansion walls were paneled in wood or covered in wallpaper imported from France or England. Persian rugs, mahogany tables and chairs, damask and silk draperies, portraits, gilt mirrors, and gleaming silver urns and teapots blended to create homes as beautiful as America has ever known. HOME

6. FAMILY LIFE Life in colonial America centered around the family. Most people worked, played, learned, and worshiped at home within the family circle. Their relatives and friends lived nearby. It was quite common for some people to live their entire lives without moving outside their circle of family and friends. A large family was necessary in colonial days. Much work had to be done to keep a family fed, clothed, and sheltered. The more hands to do the work, the better. Men were considered the head of the household. They made all of the decisions concerning their families and earned the money to support them. Women worked in the home, raising the children, preparing the meals, sewing clothes, preserving food for the winter, scrubbing laundry, fetching water, and stoking fires. By the time they had reached the age 14, most children were already considered adults. Boys would soon take up their father's trade at home or leave to become an apprentice. Girls learned to manage a house and were expected to marry young, probably by the time they were 16 and surely before they were 20. HOME

7. FUN AND GAMES Colonial children played many of the same games that children play today. They cared for their pets, played with dolls, shot marbles, pitched pennies, and went fishing. They also played tag, stickball, and blindman's buff. Adults too managed to take time out from their work to enjoy themselves. Most country people loved to dance, and at weddings the dancing and card playing often lasted all night. On militia days men would get together to practice military drilling and marching so that they would be prepared to defend themselves and their families against enemy attacks. Women would often get together to complete laborious sewing projects, such as making quilts. These quilting, sewing, and spinning "bees" also made such long projects enjoyable. Everyone looked forward to fairs, when countryfolk would come to town from miles around to sell produce and have a good time. There were races, prizes, dancing, puppet shows, and magicians. Prizes went to those who could catch a greased pig, climb a greased pole, or whistle a tune without laughing. In the towns there were always things to do. Taverns had billiard tables, skittle tables, and shuffleboards. Many had bowling greens outside. There were public dances in the towns and elegant parties in the ballrooms of the great mansions. In the 1600's, racing, dancing, and gaming were prohibited in New England, but during the 1700's, Boston had dancing schools, and stableboys matched pennies in the streets. By the middle of the 1700's there were theaters and musical clubs that gave concerts of violin, flute, and organ music. HOME

8. EARNING A LIVING Because England did not allow the colonies to mint their own coins, colonial families used money less, and bartered more, than people do today. They made many things for themselves that we buy in stores. Even so, every family had to have some way to earn money. Most Americans were farmers, but there were artisans (skilled workers) who made such things as furniture and shoes. Others worked as miners, millers, shipbuilders, shopkeepers, or merchants. In every colony there were also teachers and preachers, lawyers, doctors, and government workers. A well-to-do man often earned his money in more than one way. He might be a farmer, a lawyer, and a government official; or a merchant, a manufacturer of rope, and a shipbuilder. But most people made their living by one kind of work that could be done at home. Most American colonists lived in the country, and the vast majority of them were farmers. Farm families worked very hard. The women cared for vegetable gardens and the dairy. The men and their sons plowed the fields, split rails for fences, and cleared new land. Work went on throughout the year, from the spring planting of crops to the making and repairing of tools in the winter. A farm family's work never ended, but it was busiest at harvest time in the fall. On a Pennsylvania farm when hay was ready to be mowed, the family arose at dawn. The men sharpened sickles while the women prepared breakfast. Then neighboring farm families began to arrive to help in the fields. Farmers helped one another with major jobs, such as harvesting wheat or building barns. By six o'clock in the morning, 15 to 20 men, women, and children were in the fields, mowing hay with the sharp, curved sickles. After a stop at ten o'clock for lunch, they raked and hauled hay to the barns until late afternoon, when they stopped again for supper. Then, starting in again, they mowed until dark. New England farms were smaller than those elsewhere. The farmers did not have any one large crop they could sell for much money. A farmer would plant and harvest some wheat, corn, and hay, raise a few cattle, and keep a few sheep for their wool. Farmers who lived near the forests of Maine or western Massachusetts spent much of their time cutting timber and making the lumber for which New England became famous. New England farm families made and sold wooden pegs, wooden bowls, pitch, tar, and turpentine. Those farmers who lived near the sea often fished for a living and farmed only enough to get supplemental food for their families. HOME

9. SERVANTS AND SLAVES Most well-to-do town families had servants, often country farm girls who came into town to work. Some colonists in the North as well as the South "owned" black slaves. Farm families in New England usually hired workers who had no land of their own to help with the farming. Some servants were called indentured servants. They were poor immigrants who bound themselves to work for masters who paid the costs of the expensive journey to America. In Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia their term of service was frequently four years, and in New England, seven years. While in service, they were fed, clothed, and cared for within the family. The master had the same authority over them as he had over his own children. For example, they could not marry without his consent. When their time of indenture (service) was up, the master gave them money, clothing, and tools to start them on their way as free citizens. Farmers bought slaves to help with crops that required a great deal of labor. The farmers fed and clothed the slaves, and cared for them when they were sick. But slaves had to labor at every kind of job that needed to be done without any hope of freedom. HOME

10. RELIGION The Puritans who came to New England in the 1600's were deeply religious Christians. Everything in the New England Puritan communities centered around the church. They believed that God had chosen them to be an example for others of the good Christian life. Therefore, their most important duty was to worship God and spread the Puritan religion. On Saturday afternoons all activities came to a halt in the Puritan towns as the preparations for Sunday began. On Sunday everyone had to go to church services. The services began in the morning and lasted well into the afternoon, with one intermission around noon. Sermons lasted for two to three hours, and prayers from one to two hours. Psalm singing would sometimes last for half an hour. The deacon would read aloud while the congregation stood and sang after him. In winter the people had to bundle up warmly, for the churches were unheated until late into the century. The church was also the center of the political life of the Puritan community. Town meetings were held in the church, and the Puritan ministers were respected leaders in the communities. Laws was closely tied to the religious beliefs of the community. Anyone who disobeyed a rule of the religious society was punished, often in the public square for all others to see. It was believed that public humiliation would speedily reform an offender and serve as a warning to others. Many types of public punishments were given out for more serious crimes, such as stealing. A thief might be whipped, branded with a hot iron, or have an ear cut off. Such cruel punishments were customary in Europe and in other colonies. Superstition was also a part of life in New England. To the Puritans, as to other people of the 1600's, the world was a battleground where good and evil forces fought. They believed that devils and witches were everywhere, causing storms, making people sick, sinking ships, and ruining crops. The Puritans believed that the devil sometimes won people over to his side and made them witches. By the early part of the 1700's many people with less religious zeal than the early Puritan settlers were moving into the colonies. Puritan ministers in the 1700's no longer played such active roles in town affairs. HOME

11. SCHOOLING Most children in early colonial times never saw the inside of a schoolhouse. Learning took place in the home. As time went on and villages grew, schoolhouses were used. Children in colonial days learned reading, writing, simple math, poems, and prayers. Paper and textbooks were scarce so boys and girls recited their lessons until they memorized them. The three most commonly used books were the Bible, a primer, and a hornbook. As children grew older their schooling prepared them for their eventual roles in life. While boys studied more subjects like reading, math, and science. The girls learned housekeeping, spinning and weaving textiles and cooking routines. They also learned enough math to take care of household money matters. The teacher had more authority over their students than teachers do today. They could spank or whip the students or sit them in the corner if they misbehaved. When a student talked too much, the tutor placed a whispering stick in the talkative student’s mouth. This stick, held in place with a band of cloth, prevented any further talking. Teachers sometimes used dunce caps and nose pinchers to keep students in line. Students often rebelled against these strict disciplinary practices. HOME

12. COLONIAL HOUSES The first settlers in America built very crude kinds of shelters with the most readily available materials, wanting only to get a roof over their heads as quickly as possible. In Jamestown the settlers built one-room thatch and mud huts, with a hole in the roof to let out smoke. The homes of the first Massachusetts settlers resembled the wigwams of the local Indians. In Plymouth the earliest shelters were merely man-made caves dug into hills and covered over by a dark roof supported by poles. These English settlers were as yet unfamiliar with the one-room log cabin that later became so common on the American frontier. It was the Sweedish people who introduced the log cabin to America in their settlements on the lower Delaware River in 1638. Later the colonists began to build plain wooden houses, since wood was plentiful in the colonies and cheaper than stone or brick. The houses were modeled after the rural houses the colonists had lived in in England. They were sturdy but not large or elaborate. Usually the house was a box-shaped frame of heavy beams covered with rough hand-split boards or shingles. These were left unpainted to weather to a silver gray. The upstairs had three or four small, square bedrooms with low ceilings. The downstairs was divided into rooms where the family ate and did household chores. Northern Houses.  New Englanders built houses that were one and a half stories high in the front and one story high in the rear. The roofs of these "saltbox" houses (so called because they looked like the wooden boxes in which the colonists stored salt) sloped steeply so that snow would slip off easily and not damage the roof in the wintertime. Saltbox houses had central chimneys made out of brick or stone that heated the entire house. The main hearth was located in the kitchen. Windows were small and few had glass panes. Wooden shutters kept out the cold and rain. Floors were made out of hand-packed dirt sprinkled daily with fresh sand. Later floors were made out of wide, unpainted boards. HOME