Life in Colonial Connecticut

1. Life in Colonial Connecticut By: Dennis Acuna, Elona Aliu, and Julio Murillo.

2. Topics • Culture • Roles of women • Roles of men • Families • Leisure Time

3. Culture • Education • Religion • Clothing

4. Education • Many children were taught by their mothers or other women to read so they could understand the bible • Education was tied to religion. • Children only attended school until they reached the age of seven. • Only wealthy children attended private schools for education after the age of seven. • children did not attend school during farming season because they needed to work the farms with their families.

5. Religion • Rituals were extremely important to the colonists. • Every Sunday was Sabbath Day. • leisure activities or work was acceptable • Colonists wore their best clothing. • Boys and girls that misbehaved were caged and put in blockades. • Children were baptized • people lived their lives by reading and following the bible. • Church was to be attended daily for event and government issues.

6. Food • Usually ate same dishes for weeks • Cooking was a hard task • Especially when there weren’t any matches to cook • Corn was very important for the harvest Other popular foods: • corn, beans, squash • pork, beef, turkey, chicken, deer • Drank coffee, tea, milk, and wine • Meets were pickled and salted to keep fresh. To keep cool they dug holes underground.

7. Women Clothing Apron Petticoat Gown Hats

8. Men’s clothing Shirt Waistcoat Stockings Hats

9. Roles of Women • Women were usually married by the age of thirteen. • Women could not own land. • Their work was very important. • Most women were farm wives • Cared for children • Cooking • Made important products (soap, candles, clothes) • Helped with farm chores • traded for needed goods and services

10. Roles of Men • The men were the members of the family that did most of the hard and physically demanding chores and jobs • Some examples of the jobs they had are: • Blacksmiths • Shipbuilders • Carpenters • Tanners • Wigs • Mostly all men also farmed to support their family with food, such as wheat, barley, oats, and corn. • As for the young men, they would also be required to do the labor outside of the house; farming, fishing, and other chores would be necessary for a young man to handle. • Other young men would also become Apprentices for a future career.

11. Families • Families would stick together most of the time, and would stay connected tightly . • Families were large – extended families lived together: had many children so the kids could contribute to the economic growth. • Most families would have between 5 to 6 kids in total • Dominant male in the house was the oldest of all family members.

12. Leisure Time • Girls played with dolls • Boys played tag • Rooster fights – rooster and horse racing – bull-baiting • cookouts were common. • Life was filled with hard work, but life had its pleasures too. • At barn raisings and corn husking, families would work together very hard to prepare and then enjoy feasting, dancing, and games together. • Horse racing was also a very popular spectator sport. • Games taught children how to solve problems, use their hands, follow rules, and be fair

13. Required Questions • 1) An American is a free individual who has the right to live his/her life the way they want to live it, and to pursue any goal and dream they desire. An American is opened to a wide variety of future possibilities, and they can take any road they want, as long as they work hard for it. • 2)The life of the colonial Americans in CT have become the foundation to our culture and rules. We have adapted and made some changes, but other than that, our techniques are still the same from those of the past. Just like the present civilizations, the colonists played, worked, and depended on one another to receive goods and services in order to live comfortably, and balanced them all with school, activities, and work, just as we do.

14. Bibliography • http://noahwebsterhouse.org/lifein1770.html • http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_life_like_in_colonial_Connecticut • http://hastings.ci.lexington.ma.us/Colonial/Life/Life.html • http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/13colonieslife.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_America#Colonial_life