Teacher Guide to Student Worksheet 2- Teamster

A teamster led a team of horses and a wagon full of goods. He would haul all the materials necessary for the furnace to make iron, and when the iron was complete, he would transport the iron to market. One of the necessary materials he would transport to help make iron was wood. This was needed for the making of charcoal which fueled the furnace. He transported the charcoal from the collier (the man who made the charcoal) out in the forest to the furnace. He also hauled limestone from nearby quarries and iron ore from mines. A teamster delivered the iron products to the market. He would usually make these trips alone unless someone was traveling with him to visit a friend. He was considered a skilled laborer, but not highly skilled like the miner, founder, and collier. He would have been in the same class as the woodcutter. He was also responsible on return trips to bring goods back for the village. He was entrusted with large sums of money to buy whatever was requested from village members. His job took concentration as he traveled over unpaved, torturous roads to the main “highways” of the day. They were paid a dollar per ton for hauling the pig iron. A teamster could easily work longer hours than the typical twelve-hour shifts of a furnace worker depending on his destination. He would have modest living quarters such as tenant houses. Observe photo of tenant housing.

Examine the picture entitled “Teamster” and answer the following questions to the best of your ability:

  1. What is the teamster sitting on?

[The wood that he is hauling.]

  1. How does this teamster compare to today’s truck driver?

[The teamster for the iron plantation doesn’t have a comfortable truck with a soft seat, air conditioning, or a radio. He has doesn’t have smooth paved roads to travel. Like the truck driver, he does get paid to transport materials from one place to another.]

  1. What do you think the other men in the picture helped with?

[They could have helped load the wood on the wagon. They could have helped to secure the wood with rope.]

  1. Where do you think the teamster is taking the wood?

[perhaps to the collier’s charcoal pits]

  1. What is dangerous about his job?

[Traveling alone, many hazardous roads, lifting many heavy objects]