Download 3.2 Life in Colonial America

Angela Brown
Focus:

 Bellringer:
 Ladies and Gentlemen
 What associations come
to mind when you hear
this phrase? How do
the images of ladies
and gentlemen during
colonial times compare
with those of today?
 Vocabulary:
 Gentry, apprentice,
almanac, indigo, selfsufficient
Learning Targets:

I Can:
 Describe the structure of
colonial American society
and its distribution of
wealth.
 List contributions that
tradespeople and women
made to colonial society.
 Describe the working lives
of the average colonists
and the colonial education
system.
 Colonial society,
consisted of a variety of
groups with widely
varying lives.
 A person’s wealth or
gender or race went a
long way to
determining his or her
place in society.
 How true is this today?
Colonial Society

 Most colonists accepted the notion that the wealthy were
superior to the poor, that men were superior to women, and that
whites were superior to blacks.
 They accepted that society was made up of different ranks or
levels.
 They brought these ideas with them from Europe.
 Social ranks could be seen in colonial clothes, houses, and
manners.
 Gentry, or men and women wealthy enough to hire others to
work for them.
 “Gentle folk” were the most important members of colonial
society.
 Wigs were an unmistakable sign of status, power, and wealth.
Colonial Dress

ushistoryimages.com
Wealth in Land

 The foundation of real wealth was land.
 Land was plentiful and most white men owned some
land.
 Adult, single women and free African Americans
could legally own land but very few did.
 In each colony a small group of elite, landowning
men dominated politics.
 Lawyers, planters, and merchants held most of the
seats in the colonial assemblies, or lawmaking
bodies.
Wealth in Land

 To refine their manners, the gentry eagerly read newspapers
and books from England.
 They sent their sons to expensive schools and taught their
daughters how to manage a household.
 They supervised, but they did not actually perform physical
labor.
 William Byrd owned several plantations in Virginia and wrote
in his diary that every day he read Greek or Latin, said his
prayers, and “danced his dance” (performed a series of
exercises) in the garden of his home.
 Gentlemen sought to demonstrate their refinement, self-control
and proof that they deserved the respect of others.
Trades and Occupations

Artisans
 At a very early age, boys
from most families became
apprentices, or persons
placed under a contract to
work for another person in
exchange for learning a
trade.
 They prospered by creating
some of the items that the
gentry
desired…silversmiths,
cabinetmakers, tinsmiths,
pottery and glass makers.
wolfsonianfiulibrary.wordpress.com
Printers

 Colonial printers gathered and circulated local news and
information.
 They had to be cautious when deciding which stories to
report.
 In 1734, authorities arrested John Peter Zenger, printer
and publisher of the New York Weekly Journal, for
printing libelous (false) stories critical of the governor of
New York.
 Zenger’s lawyer argued that if the stories were true then
they could not be considered libel.
 Zenger won his case, a landmark victory for freedom of
the press in America.
Benjamin Franklin

 One of America’s most famous printers from the 1700s…
 Among his best known works is Poor Richard’s Almanac
printed from 1732 to 1757.
 An almanac is a book containing information such as
calendars, weather predictions, proverbs, and advice.
 He also published newspapers and magazines.
 In retirement he dabbled in science and politics and spent
much of his time in Europe.
 He is most famous for his scientific inventions such as the
lightening rod, the Franklin stove, and bifocal eyeglasses.
 His autobiography set forth rules for controlling oneself
and behaving in a respectable manner.
Trades and Occupations

Farmers and Fishermen
 NE farmers who worked the
then, rocky soil gained a
reputation for being tough,
thrifty, and conservative.
 Many coastal settlers turned
their backs on the poor soil and
made their living from the soil.
 Haddock, bass, clams, mussels,
and crabs abounded.
 Most was dried, salted, and
shipped out.
 Fishing became a main industry
promoting growth in
shipbuilding.
Indentured Servants
 IS agreed to work for a master
for a set amount of time, up to
seven years.
 In exchange the master agreed
to pay for travel costs to the
colonies.
 Masters had total authority over
IS and sometimes treated them
as slaves.
 Servants who served their time
were granted freedom and
sometimes a piece of land.
 Extra time was added to service
for alleged misbehaviors.
Colonial Women

 Status was determined by the men in a woman’s life.
 Most women were legally the dependents of men
and had no legal or political standing.
 Married women could not own property.
 Law prevented women from voting or holding office
or serving on a jury.
 Even a widowed woman did not have any political
rights, although she could inherit her husband’s
property and conduct business.
Women and the Law

 Under English common law, a
woman was under her
husband’s control.
 Law allowed husbands to beat
their wives without fear of
prosecution.
 Divorces, although legal, were
rare.
 The easiest place to divorce was
Puritan NE.
 They so desired order and
stability that they preferred to
allow a bad marriage to end
rather than continue to create
disorder among them.
wornthrough.com
Women’s Duties

 Women and men depended
on one another.
 Women managed the
household. Tasks included
cooking, gardening,
washing, cleaning, weaving
cloth, sewing, helping in
childbirth, and training their
daughters.
 They might argue with their
fathers or husbands but
almost never directly
challenged the basic
structure of colonial society.
 Eliza Lucas Pinckney
ran her fathers three
plantations and helped
promote the growth of
indigo.
 Indigo is a type of plant
used in making blue
dye for cloth.
 Indigo became a major
staple crop in South
Carolina.
The Nature of Work

 By the mid-1700s life was
better for most white colonists
than it would have been in
Europe.
 They ate better, lived longer,
and had more children to help
them work.
 There were more
opportunities to gain wealth
and status.
 All colonists had to labor very
hard to keep their families
alive.
 Everyone in the household,
including children had to
work.
 The goal of the household
was to be self-sufficient, or
able to make everything
needed to maintain itself.
 Wives often assisted
husbands in their work
from planting crops to
managing business affairs.
 Children helped both
parents.
 Most work was performed
in or around the home.
 Shops were often in the
front of their houses.
Colonial Education

 Attendance at school was not required by law, and most
children received little formal education.
 NE Colonies became early leaders in developing public
education.
 Protestant settlers believed everyone should be able to read the
bible.
 Literacy rates were higher in NE than anywhere else in British
North America.
 In 1647, Mass. Passed a law requiring every town with 50
families to hire a schoolmaster to teach reading, writing and
arithmetic.
 Towns with 100 or more families were expected to establish a
grammar school that offered Greek and Latin.
Colonial Education

 Girls did not go to school.
They were to learn from
their mothers.
 If no schools were
available, parents taught
their children at home.
 In the Southern Colonies,
plantation owners often
hired private instructors
to teach their children
 Colleges were training
grounds for ministers.
 Only the wealth attended.
 Until the 1740s there were
only three colleges in the
colonies.
 1636 Harvard in Mass.
 1693 William and Mary in
Virginia
 1701 Yale in Connecticut.
Exit Slip

1. Summarizing Main Ideas: How did the legal status of
women differ from their actual importance in
colonial society?
2. Identifying Central Issues: Why did everyone in the
average colonial household have to work?
3. Create a chart that organizes information about the
structure of colonial society. Gentry, women etc.
4. Describe the nature of colonial education. Who was
educated? To what degree?
(Geography and History activity page 70 – 71)