In this mini-unit you and your partner will learn about the culture that developed in the 13 British Colonies. Remember, as more and more people migrated to the colonies, America developed its own identity.
You will utilize information found in this “Daily Life” information handout and in the textbook chapter 5 section 1 to develop an understanding about life during the late 1700s that can be characterized only as American!
What the colonists had and what they didn’t!
Colonists didn’t have light bulbs, but they did have oil and candles.
Colonists didn’t have “The Star-Spangled Banner, but they did have God Save the King.”
Colonists didn’t have frozen or canned foods, but they did have smoked and salted meats and pickled vegetables.
Colonists didn’t have flush toilets, but they did have outhouses and chamber pots.
Colonists didn’t have Play-Doh or Silly Putty, but they did have mud and clay.
Colonists didn’t have toilet paper, but they did have leaves and corncobs.
Colonists didn’t have machine guns, but they did have rifles, muskets and pistols.
Colonists didn’t have Uncle Sam, but they did have Lady Liberty.
Colonists didn’t have elementary or high schools, but they did have schooling at home and college for wealthy boys.
Colonists didn’t haveDVD’ or MP3 players, but they did have violins, harpsichords and other musical instruments.
Colonists didn’t have rubber balls, but they did have balls made of inflated animal bladders.
Colonists didn’t have Band-Aids, but they did have cotton dressings.
Colonists didn’t have antibiotics, but they did have leeches and herbs.
Colonists didn’t have zippers or Velcro, but they did have buttons.
Colonists didn’t have television or radio, but they did have books, newspapers and almanacs.
Colonists didn’t have pens, but they did have feather quills and ink.
Colonists didn’t have air conditioning, but they did have open windows.
Colonists didn’t have dynamite, but they did have black gunpowder.
Colonists didn’t have supermarkets or grocery stores, but they did have outdoor markets.
Colonists didn’t havecentral heating, but they did have fireplaces.
Colonists didn’t have matches, but they did have flint and steel.
Colonists didn’t have ovens or stovetops, but they did have fireplaces.
Colonists didn’t have candy bars, but they did have hot chocolate to drink.
Colonists didn’t have paper bags, but they did have baskets.
Colonists didn’t have chewing gum, but they did have rock candy.
Colonists didn’t have potato chips, but they did have popcorn.
Colonists didn’t have mayonnaise, but they did have ketchup and mustard.
Colonists didn’t have soda, but they did have apple cider.
Colonia Colonial Trades & OccupationsTrades, Occupations and Jobs
Apothecary
The apothecary prepared and sold drugs to the colonists, making up compounds into medicines. He was recognized as a man of some standing in the community and often acted as a kind of physician when qualified doctors or surgeons were not available.
The Architect
The architect was recognized as a man of standing in the colonies and would be employed by the wealthy colonists requiring a house to be built, or was consulted in the public buildings. The architect was skilled in the art of building and architecture. His job was to prepare designs and plans for the building and supervise the workers.
The Blacksmith
The blacksmith was extremely important in the colonies. The blacksmith worked to create iron utensils such as horseshoes using a forge.
The Brewer
The brewer was in demand in America. Colonists believed that it was safer to drink beer in preference to water. Distilleries are the names of the places where liquor is manufactured and the brewers and distillers worked. Rum became a major export from the colonies.
The Brick Maker
The brick maker used kilns to make bricks. Unskilled workers, servants or slaves did the work of a brick maker. The brick makers worked with clay and molds to make the bricks.
The Carpenter
The carpenter was responsible for the structural parts of a building. The items included roofs, partitions and floors. Carpenters also made basic furniture for the colonists.
The Caulker
The caulkerworked in the ship building industries. The caulkers sealed joints making ships water-tight.
The Chandler
The chandler was a maker and seller of candles,soap, oils and paints.
The Cooper
The cooper was an important worker. Barrels were used for transporting products such as rum, flour, fruit, salted meat and fish during Colonial Times. These products were all essential for trade and commerce. The cooper made barrels, hogsheads, casks, etc.
The Gunsmith
The gunsmith made or repaired small firearms. A gunsmith was a highly skilled craftsman. Creating a firearm could take up to 400 hours of labor which included forging pieces, carving stocks, and engraving metal.
The Farmer
The farmer was an essential trade and occupation in all of the colonies, but especially in the Middle Colonies where the soil was fertile and weather was mild. New England farmers raised corn, pumpkins, rye, squash and beans. The Middle colonies raised so many types of crops, especially wheat, they were called the 'breadbasket. The Southern colonies and their massive plantations raised tobacco, cotton, corn, vegetables, grain and fruit.
The Fur Trader
The fur traders traded with the Native Indians for furs and skins. The fur trade was highly lucrative and the French and English fought to monopolize the fur tradewhich led to the Beaver Wars.
The Hatter
The hatter was a tradesman who made hats. Hats were made of beavers’ skins during the colonial period, however the colonists were not allowed to make hats. They had to export the beaver skins to England who would make the hats - refer to the Hat Act for full details.
The Iron Maker
The early colonists discovered that iron ore was in great abundance in Colonial America. The manufacture of iron was one of their most valuable natural resources. The iron makers worked in ironworks. Iron was used to make barrel hoops, anchors, chains, wagon wheels, plows, tools, spikes, kettles and nails.
The Joiner
The joiner was a woodworker who made products by joining pieces of wood. The joiner was responsible for the wood work on items such as stairs, doors, shutters, mantelpieces, cupboards, and other parts necessary to finishing a building. The work of a joiner and carpenter was often done by the same workman.
The Milliner
The milliner was the occupation undertaken by women. The female milliners created hats and small fancy items for sale to the colonists. The milliners imported and dealt in other small articles of a miscellaneous nature.
The Overseer
The overseers were men hired by planters to manage and direct the work of slaves on the massive plantations in the Southern colonies. Overseers were usually from the white, badly educated lower classes.
The Publican
The publicans otherwise known as the tavern owners were the men who owned and ran the taverns which sprang up in the colonial towns.
The Printer
The printer printed books, newspapers, engravings, pamphlets, almanacs and calendars. Printers encompassed the jobs of a compositor, a typesetter and a pressman.
The Saw mill worker
The sawmill workers were extremely important to the lumber trade and industry especially in New England. The sawmills produced lumber of timber to produce wooden planks for export to England, which were then manufactured into finished goods.
The Shipbuilders
The shipbuilders constructed ships and was also known as naval architects or as shipwrights. The work of a shipbuilder was extremely important to New England industries as the shipyards and warehouses played a prominent role in these colonies. The ship building industry including carpenters, joiners, sail makers, coopers aka barrel makers, painters, caulkers (they sealed joints making ships water-tight) and blacksmiths.
The Shoemaker
The shoemaker was also referred to as a bootmaker and cobbler. A necessary and valued trade in the colonies. The shoemaker carved a foot-shaped piece of wood, called a 'last', to the size of the customer's foot. Softened leather was stretched over the 'last' and then nailed to the sole of the boot or shoe.Shoes were never carved as right or left; not until the shoes were worn did they take their final shape.
The Tanner
The tanners might operate as a small business but most worked in tanneries, to tan the skins and hides of animals, converting them into leather. The leather was used primarily for making boots and shoes but doublets and jerkins were also made of leather.
The Trapper
The trappers set traps for animals to obtain their skins and furs. Beaver skins were used in hat making by the hatters.
The Warehouse worker
The warehouse workers worked in large storehouses where raw materials and other goods were stored until they were shipped out to England.Warehouse played a prominent role in the industrialized colonies of New England.
The Whalers
The whalers were extremely important to the New England colonies who enjoyed a booming trade in the supply of various whale products. The whalers were the strong seamen who worked on the ships that hunted whales.
The Wheelwright
The Wheelwright was a man whose occupation was to make or repair wheels for vehicles such as carts and wagons.
Colonial Daily Life
Colonial Education
The education of girls was practically non-existent - they were taught household skills related to running the house or farm and raising the children. Wealthy boys were tutored at home. Other boys attended a Dame School up to the age of five then went on the Elementary or Grammar schools until they were 14 years old. Wealthy boys were sent to colleges or universities.
Colonial Women
The lives of women were dictated by their status. Wealthy women had servants and slaves and directed the work.
Rights
Women could not vote. Men of the wealthy upper class could vote and hold public office. Men of the middle class could also vote but few held public office. Men of the lower classes could not vote and most were illiterate. Indentured servants and slaves did not have the right to vote.
Marriage
Women were be married by the time they were 20 years old. Men married at a similar age. Widows and widowers married quickly, usually within a year.
Divorce
Divorce was practically unknown as Colonial America was essentially a divorce-free society.
Children
Women bore large numbers of children. Eight children was normal but as the child mortality rate was extremely high up to five of the children would have died before they reached maturity.
Clothing
The types of clothes worn by colonists depended on wealth and religion. The upper classes wore fine materials, dress and ornaments. Puritans wore the simplest types of clothing. Poor people wore cheap 'homespun' garments.
Medicine
Most doctors and physicians were poorly trained and not highly esteemed. When a physician was not available, a barber was often called to tend the sick.
Diseases
There were no cures for deadly diseases such as typhoid, cholera, yellow fever, smallpox, measles, whooping cough and influenza; however, powdered dried toad was used to treat smallpox which afflicted one out of five people in the great epidemics.
Houses
The type of houses ranged from log cabins, farmhouses, town houses to great colonial mansions.
Society
Male dominated society where women were subservient to the men.
Indentured Servants
Indentured Servants were not paid any wages for the term of the contract (5 - 7 years), they could not vote, buy or sell anything. They were not allowed to marry or to leave their houses or travel without permission.
Entrepreneurs
Commercial ventures and land speculation were the surest ways to gain wealth quickly.
Transportation
There were very few roads, people travelled along dirt tracks. The preferred way to travel was along the coast or by rivers and waterways.
An inter-colonial postal system was established in the 1750's.
Newspapers
There were about 40 one-sheet newspapers in the 1700's that were supplemented by pamphlets, leaflets, and journals.
Government
The 13 colonial governments took a variety of forms by 1775. 8 colonies had royal governors, who were appointed by the king, 2 colonies were under proprietors who themselves chose the governors, 1 colony was self-governing and elected their own governor.
Food
Food in Colonial America was plentiful and included a lot of meat, although the diet could be coarse and monotonous.
Heating and Plumbing
Heating was basic via a fireplace and houses were drafty. There was no plumbing or running water.
Leisure
Men enjoyed themselves with card playing, horse racing, cockfighting, and fox hunting. Women occupied themselves with useful indoor activities including sewing, quilting and embroidery. Dancing was seen as a joint leisure activity.
Religion
The American colonies adhered to all denominations of the Christian religion and many people were expected to say daily prayers and always attend church on Sundays. Rich people sat at the front and poor people sat on the back benches. In some churches you could pay for your reserved seat every service.