Go Formative Readings: Colonial Life

GO FORMATIVE READINGS: COLONIAL LIFE

SLAVERY

Slavery existed in every colony

At the dawn of the American Revolution, 20 percent of the population in the thirteen colonies was of African descent. The legalized practice of enslaving blacks occurred in every colony, but the economic realities of the southern colonies perpetuated the institution first legalized in Massachusetts in 1641. During the Revolutionary era, more than half of all African Americans lived in Virginia and Maryland. Most blacks lived in the Chesapeake region, where they made up more than 50 to 60 percent of the overall population. The majority, but not all, of these African Americans were slaves. In fact, the first official United States Census taken in 1790 showed that eight percent of the black populace was free. [Edgar A. Toppin. "Blacks in the American Revolution" (published essay, Virginia State University, 1976), p. 1]. Whether free or enslaved, blacks in the Chesapeake established familial relationships, networks for disseminating information, survival techniques, and various forms of resistance to their condition.

Slave labor required for farming and tobacco cultivating. The majority of blacks living in the Chesapeake worked on tobacco plantations and large farms. Since the cultivation of tobacco was extremely labor-intensive, African slave labor was used, despite questions of whether slavery was morally right. Tobacco cultivation rivaled the sugar production of the British West Indies. Tobacco was an eleven-month crop. Cultivation began in late January with the preparation of the fields for planting, mending tools, and laying out the seed beds. Once the soil was ready (usually in March), tobacco seedlings were transplanted to the fields. By mid summer, tobacco was growing in the fields, but the delicate plant required constant care. At harvest time, tobacco was gathered and prepared for its shipment to England.

*QUESTION 1

SOCIAL CLASSES

Colonial Social Classes

Enslaved Field Hands
Slavery existed in all the British American colonies. Africans were brought to America to work, mainly in agriculture. In Virginia, most slaves worked in tobacco fields. Men, women, and children worked from sunup to sundown, with only Sunday to rest. It was hard, backbreaking work.

Enslaved House Servants
Some enslaved Africans worked as cooks, laundresses, manservants, blacksmiths, coopers, or in other skilled jobs. These men and women were generally considered "better off" than field slaves, but they were still enslaved. What's more, they lived and worked every day under the constant watchful eyes of their masters, and had little time for themselves.

Free Blacks
The British American colonies had a small but important population of free men and women of African descent. Though they did not enjoy the same rights as white citizens, these free black men and women owned property, worked in a wide range of skilled jobs, and made significant contributions to their communities.

Farmers
During the 18th century, most Americans lived and worked on small farms. They worked the farms with the labor of only their own families - father, mother and children - and perhaps one or two slaves or hired help.

Middling
In the 18th century, a new group, the "middling sort" or middle class, gained a larger role in society and government. These men and women worked in trades - blacksmithing, silversmithing, printing, and millinery, for example. They worked as professionals, such as lawyers and doctors, or merchants who owned stores.

Gentry

The gentry were the "upper crust" of colonial society. They were large landowners, very wealthy merchants, and financiers. They owned huge tracts of land and usually many slaves. Gentry men, or gentlemen, took it as their right and duty to govern others. They served as local magistrates, church vestrymen, and councilmen. Gentry ladies, or gentlewomen, were at the top of social class and colonial fashion.

QUESTION 2
QUESTION 3

HEALTH

Surviving the 17th Century

European immigrants to early Virginia displaced American Indians, increased intertribal warfare, and caused disease, all of which undermined tribal families. It was not one sided. In ways it was no better for Europeans and Africans. With them, fevers and intestinal diseases killed young and old alike. For the Africans who survived the Middle Passage from Africa, harsh working conditions claimed more lives. For the Europeans before 1640, colonists had an even chance of dying within one year, a quarter of all children did not make it to their first birthday, and half of all marriages ended in the death of one partner before the seventh anniversary.

The Virginia Colony had a large number of orphans, half-siblings, stepchildren, and foster parents in white families.

By the end of the 17th century, conditions improved for Virginia-born black and white families. Life expectancy rose, and the white population began to replace itself. Whites married earlier, lived longer, and had larger numbers of surviving children.

Virginia law, however, further defined slavery and shaped black families. The status of the mother, free or slave, determined the status of her children. Interracial marriage was restricted, as were the rights of free mulatto children.

QUESTION 4

PROPER ETIQUETTE IN THE 1700S

Colonial MannersBased on the Exercise of a Schoolboy*

George Washington, sometime before the age of 16, transcribedRules of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation. (Original errors in numbering have been corrected; original spelling is unchanged.)

1st Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present.

2d When in Company, put not your Hands to any Part of the Body, not usualy Discovered.

3d Shew Nothing to your Freind that may affright him.

4th In the Presence of Others Sing not to yourself with a humming Noise, nor Drum with your Fingers or Feet.

5th If You Cough, Sneeze, Sigh, or Yawn, do it not Loud but Privately; and Speak not in your Yawning, but put Your handkercheif or Hand before your face and turn aside.

6th Sleep not when others Speak, Sit not when others stand, Speak not when you Should hold your Peace, walk not on when others Stop.

7th Put not off your Cloths in the presence of Others, nor go out your Chamber half Drest.

8th At Play and at Fire its Good manners to Give Place to the last Commer, and affect not to Speak Louder than Ordinary.

9th Spit not in the Fire, nor Stoop low before it neither Put your Hands into the Flames to warm them, nor Set your Feet upon the Fire especially if there be meat before it.

10th When you Sit down, Keep your Feet firm and Even, without putting one on the other or Crossing them

QUESTION 5
QUESTION 6

Casks and pails are created at the Ludwell-Paradise Stable on Nicholson Street.

Barrels of all sizes stand ready to meet storage needs.

CooperAncient trade

The art of coopering dates back centuries, and the basic trade has remained unchanged. Coopering requires skill, intelligence, and strength. The tools of the trade are often handed down for generations.

Coopers crafted casks which:

• Held flour, gunpowder, tobacco, and other commodities
• Served as shipping containers
• Stored liquids from wine to milk

Many colonial coopers worked on plantations to produce the many hogsheads needed to ship tobacco from Virginia to Great Britain. Other coopers worked in towns like Williamsburg, turning staves and hoops into everything from butter churns to tubs. Large plantations often trained slaves in the trade. Coopers could also be found on military and merchant vessels, since casks were common aboard ships.

Finest casks held liquid

Today, coopers are often called "barrel makers," but a barrel is only one kind of cask, one made by what was known as a "tight cooper." Other casks included the firkin, kilderkin, hogshead, butt, rundlet, tierce, puncheon, and pipe. The tight cooper assembled clear white oak staves split from the dense center of a tree. He fit the staves one to another, and bound them with iron to make casks for liquids of all sorts.

A "slack cooper" built containers for such commodities as flour and tobacco. "White" coopering produced pails, churns, tubs, and dippers, often made of cedar or pine.

Casks, barrels, buckets, and pails found throughout Williamsburg

The coopers in The Revolutionary City shape their staves with broadaxes, planes, and drawknives, and then gather them in a circle secured by a ring. The gathered staves are heated over a small stove or cresset to make them pliant and the heated staves are then bent into shape. Hickory hoops hold them for banding. The trickiest step is cutting grooves inside the lips to fit the barrelheads tightly. Today, the results of the coopers' work can be seen throughout The Revolutionary City.

QUESTION 7
QUESTION 8

Wigmaker

Accounts and wigs await settling.

The wigmaker shaves and barbers her clients.

Exquisite hairpieces are hand-sewn.

• Made wigs and hairpieces for ladies and gentlemen
• Cut and dressed hair
• Sold soaps, perfumes, powders, tonics and lice cures
• Trained apprentices
• Offered immersion bathing facilities

Gentry and businessmen wore wigs

Williamsburg, the capitol of Virginia, was the center of commerce and government, and provided an excellent opportunity for wigmakers and barber-hairdressers to make their trade a lucrative business. Barber and wigmaker establishments were generally located within or near taverns. This provided a consistent location to serve the needs of the customers – a place where one could openly discuss politics, day-to-day activities, and transact business deals.

Wigs show status, wealth

Tradesmen, merchants, clergy, military, ship captains and landed gentry patronized the wigmaker. Those who could afford wigs represented 5 percent of the total population of Virginia. Wigs were not only fashionable, but served as a way to convey one’s status within the community.

Wigmaking interpreted today in King's Arms barber shop

Today's shop represents Edward Charlton, who practiced the trade for more than a half century and became one of the most important 18th-century wigmakers in Virginia. Many prominent men in Virginia, such as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and George Wythe frequented his shop. Skilled tradesmen and interpreters today demonstrate the technology of the trade, while focusing on the role of the wigmaker and barber in history, as well as the social aspects of the trade.

QUESTION 9
QUESTION 10

DAILY LIFE FOR KIDS

Most children were put to work as soon as they were able. In many ways children were seen as laborers for the family. The boys helped the father with his work and the girls helped their mother. This way they also learned the skills they would need when they grew up.
In many areas there wasn't a public school like there is today, so a lot of farm children did not get any formal education. Boys often learned how to read or write from their father or the local minister. Girls were often not taught to read or write at all. In some places the children did go to school. The boys usually attended longer as it was considered more important for them to learn to read and write so they could manage the farm.

QUESTION 11
QUESTION 12

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