Life & Times

Colonial America on the Eve of the Revolution

Society» Highly stratified society

» Small, independent farmers=40% of population

» Northern colonies: wealthiest 10% owned 45% of land

» Southern colonies: wealthiest 10% owned 75% of the land

» People of mixed national origins (English, Irish, Scottish, Dutch, Swedish) & beliefs

» Society made up of freemen, indentured servants, and slaves

Education Early education Idea of public education began in colonies

1647: Massachusetts passed tax-supported school law for towns w/50+ families

Most southern families of means hired private tutors

By 1745, three colleges in North America; by 1776, six more

For most students, school ended at age 10-12

Education Schools

1 room log building w/greased paper “windows”, few books, no blackboards, little paper, few maps, dunce stool in corner

Students used goose quill pens/made ink by boiling down washed walnut or butternut hulls & adding vinegar & salt

Education: Schools Textbooks & teaching methods

Bible: often the only book in homes Hornbooks: wooden paddles with the alphabet

and sometimes the Lord’s Prayer written on them, covered w/a thin layer of horn

New England Primer: first widely used standard text; taught reading, writing, arithmetic, moral lessons along w/the alphabet

Ex. For the letter “d”: “A dog will bite a thief at night.” and a picture showing it.

Education: Schools/Teachers Memorization by the “blab” method: short

sentences recited aloud in unison…very noisy/various age groups working on different lessons

Teachers Always male, dressed in waistcoat, ruffled

shirt, powdered wig Sat at high wooden desk…with hickory stick

handy! (N.E. Primer: “The idle fool is whipped at school.”)

Education: Lessons Schools were not co-ed Boys apprenticed to trade or learned

farming after finishing school Some went on to grammar school

(college) and studied Latin for professions in medicine, law, ministry

Education: Lessons Girls spent about 3 years in school to

learn to read (not believed capable of further studies)

Girls rarely admitted to grammar school; sometimes to private academies called Dame Schools to learn “domestic arts” w/social arts, e.g. music, dancing, drawing, French, flower arranging

Recreation• Popular pastimes: dancing,

fishing, skating, sleigh riding, card playing, badminton, attending country fairs

• Gender-based activities:• Women did needlework/quilting,

read, played musical instruments• Men had competitions: wrestling,

horse & foot races, whistling contests

Appearance• Men’s clothing - Upper Classes

• Frock coat, vest, knee britches, silk stockings to knee, buckled shoes, hat, ornamental buttons (brass, pearl, etc.), rings w/family seal, earrings

• Powdered wigs w/hair cut short beneath…or long hair tied back (“Clubbed”)

Appearance: Upper Class Men

• Fancy dress: cocked hats w/gold lace, red vests w/lace, lace-trimmed ruffles at coat sleeves (long ruffles hanging over the hand were a sign of gentility/wealth), cuffs weighted to hang properly

Appearance• Men’s clothing - The “Lesser” Classes

• Working men’s styles were similar to those of the upper classes; fabrics differed: linsey wool (linen/wool combo), cotton shirts, woolen stockings

• Frontier men: leather hunting shirts down to thigh w/leggings & moccasins

Appearance: Women’s Clothing

• Women’s Clothing: Upper Classes• Long dresses w/hooped skirts stiffened

w/whalebone…some formal gowns had hoops six feet wide! (consider having to get into coaches sitting beside a similarly dressed woman)

• Small waists were fashionable (14”-18”); tight corsets used to reach ideal waist

Appearance: Women’s Clothing

• Low necklines for evening wear• High-heeled shoes--often wooden clogs on

iron platforms to keep them out of mud• “Tower” hairdos for special occasions:

long hair frizzed with curling irons, piled up in front over wool pads into mountains of curls and puffs; greased w/pomade and powdered…covered w/large wire framework from which hung false curls, lace, ribbons, beads, jewels, and feathers

Appearance: Women’s Clothing

• Women’s Clothing: the “lesser” classes• Simple, long dress, long hair braided

or in a bun & tucked under a mobcap, sunbonnet or parasol if outdoors

• Fabrics differentiated class rather than style in everyday dress

Love, Courtship & Marriage» General information

» In most colonies, men outnumbered women

» The New World offered more freedom for courtship than did the Old World…especially for upper class women

Love, Courtship & Marriage» Bachelorhood frowned upon; early

marriages encouraged; some girls in the “lesser” classes married at 13, most 18

» An unmarried woman of 25 was considered an ancient maid!

» Arranged marriages were the norm; parental approval needed for courtship…men subject to fine/public whipping if he didn’t get it!

Love, Courtship & Marriage» Courtship

» Among the upper classes» Daughters entertained suitors in family parlor-usually

w/whole family» Some privacy by using a whispering rod…a long

hollow tube to whisper sweet nothings!» Among the “lesser” classes

» Suitor might be invited to spend the night once parent sure of marriage

» Bundling board down middle of bed to ensure propriety, but no real problem if board wasn’t in place the next morning

Love, Courtship & Marriage» Marriage

» Dowries/money arrangements published» Wife and “her” property became husband’s» Husbands also assumed wives’ debts» Church and law disapproved of “disorderly

marriage” (living together before marriage» Divorce prohibited, except in MA and CT

Health• Life expectancy

– 2/3 of children died before age 2– At birth, expectancy was 35 years– For those who survived past the

age of ten, 54-56 years

Health• Medicine

– During colonial period, about 3500 doctors in America•400 had any formal training•200 had medical degrees

– Treatments often worse than illness•Bleeding (nick veins/use leeches)•Purging w/laxatives•Drugs: Opium, mercury, herbs

Crime & Punishment Puritan idea of public

humiliation Minor offences brought time

in the stocks Quarrelsome women could

be cooled down on the ducking stool

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are needed to see this picture.

Crime & Punishment “Real” Punishments for “Real Crimes

Blasphemy: Tongue in cleft stick Other crimes (eg. Theft) warranted hands/ears

cut off, branding, whipping Serious crimes warranted execution, usually by

hanging