Great job on assignment #1 guys! You put your best foot forward to start the new year, and I'm proud of you! No doubt this will take some getting used to, but you are off to a fantastic start. This week's assignment includes a research requirement. Go to the website www.kidinfo.com/American_History/Colonization_Colonial_Life.html and view the available links. Choose a topic to read about and then report back with your findings. Your topic should focus on a fairly narrow aspect of colonial life and your essay should answer the "W" questions: who, what, when, where, and (especially) why. Example topics include: the story of a particular settler or family; the life of blacks in the colonies; common professions in the colonies, etc. Be creative and choose a topic that interests you. Your essay must be at least 200 words and is due by midnight, August 26. As you did last week, respond to the posts of at least two others with valuable reactions, questions, or (respectfully stated) disagreements with the conclusions drawn.
Remember that the point of the lesson is to practice research, writing, and communication with others while learning more about our American ancestors. You all are fantastic students and I'm excited to see what you come up with! God bless!
About the economy in the colonies:
ReplyDeleteWhen businessman started to invest in colonies they created a dependency relationship, because they had the money and many people had to borough money from them. They also protected the ships with the colonial goods and gave them access to the English market. The English businessman get their money with manufactured goods they sold to other Countries and also with the interest payment from the credits. In this time four-fifths of the colonists worked on fields to produce the special plants like tobacco and rice. That’s also the reason why many colonial cities stayed small, the businessman were not interested in manufactured goods which cost a lot more then resources. So it was very harder to find work in the cities. The cities were more like big markets where the colonists could sell their resources and bought expensive manufactured goods from England. Later the colonies began to develop different economies while the south produced farming products the north began to other industries like shipbuilding or manufacturing. The northern colonies also started to trade with the native Americans that was a good way to earn money. The trades were often “unfair”, because the native Americans often do not know the “real” value of the goods they traded.
I chose to write about the education in the New England colonies. When children were elementary school age the parents would begin to teach them basic knowledge such as to read and write. Reading was very important because the parents believed that all kids should know the Bible well. Parents taught their children about God and their Christian beliefs. Mostly the women would teach the kids how to read and the men taught their sons in the fields. When the boys got to a certain age when they were able to read and write well they would send them off to Grammar School. Girls were not allowed to further their education, only the boys could progress. The grammar schools were very small and learned from books called “hornbooks.”At Grammar school they would teach the boys Math and Latin and other important subjects to help them be eligible for college. When they completed grammar school the boys would often try to get into college. Some would learn the family “trade” or occupation from their fathers so they could continue the trade out when their father retired. Sometimes they would be taught different trades at school so they could begin something different in their families.
ReplyDeleteAbout the judiciary in the colonies
ReplyDeleteThe punished were locked in a wooden frame and put on display to the citizens. So that the perpetrators are ashamed and do not repeat the offense. At that time there were two types of penalties. On pillory the offender with rotten food or objects were thrown from the population. The other punishment was the flogging where the offender was publicly flogged.
The colonial Americans were moral and religious people, who punishing violations strangely.
Some offenses were: drunkenness in public, inappropriate behavior toward the opposite sex and the Sabbath, not attend the church service.
The adulterers were given an A sewn on their clothes and the counterfeiters got a C. Also the ears were cut off or the person has been branded.
Due to the rapid wealth of citizens in the colony were a lot of criminals. The British were accused of transporting criminals to the colonies. Unfortunately, there were no police in the colonies, so there were many crimes.
In the colonies, blasphemy was a serious crime that was punished accordingly. The criminals were put in the pillory and their tongue bored out with a hot iron or be forced to stand in the gallows with a rope tied around his neck.
Farming in the colonies
ReplyDeleteFarming in the times of the Colonists was very different than it is today. For starters, they didn’t have any machinery like we do. There were no tractors, combines, or hay balers to speed up the crop growing process. Even within the colonies things differed from area to area; the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies each had their own crops and troubles with farming in the New World. The New England Colonies were not well suited for farming with their long, cold winters and rocky soil. Due to the inability to grow crops in the north, many colonists became fisherman that contributed to the economy. The Middle Colonies were often referred to as the “breadbasket” because of the fertile land. The crops that were most common were wheat, barley, oats, rye, and corn. Here they grew enough crops to feed themselves and to export some of the goods to countries in Europe. The Southern Colonies mostly grew tobacco (as did the colony of Jamestown), but in Georgia and South Carolina indigo and rice were grown as well. Even though the first settlers in America had their work cut out for them, they worked hard and prospered.
Christian:
ReplyDeleteI like your essay; it was clear and well-stated. I was surprised to find out that the colonists were so dependent on the businessmen that sent them here. I didn’t know that the cities stayed small; I figured that they would steadily grow, like in the northern colonies. I knew that the colonies in the north were more industrialized due to the lack of land suitable for farming. I really like the comparison of their cities to a market because that was pretty much how things were. Great essay; it was very well-stated.
Emma:
I liked the topic of your essay because it is very important and has changed so much over the years. Latin is rarely taught nowadays, and everyone is required to get a high school education. It seems very sexist for the girls back then not to get an education and to have to learn to be a housewife. The teaching of the family trade seems special to me because in my large extended family we pass the small businesses down from generation to generation, and it’s something that we have always done. It’s really cool to see that connection to our country’s history.
Katharina:
Wow. Those are some very cruel punishments. It’s hard to believe that they would actually brand a person or bore into their tongue with a hot iron, but the past isn't always pretty.
I chose to write my essay on the colonial doctor. Just like today the people that lived in the colonies got sick. Therefore they needed a “town doctor,” but, the colony doctor wasn’t exactly like today’s physicians. The colony’s doctor was everywhere and had to make and maintain strong relationships with each member of the population. The doctor had to be present at each birth, each death, each written will, even each scrape. Some even say they were second in the community only to the minister. That’s quite a bit of pressure on one person! While the doctor was a very important part of society, there education lacked because no medical colleges were founded in the colonies until May 30, 1765 and even then only 10 graduated. The doctor’s education consisted of only a short “residency” under a noted physician. That’s all. Perhaps that’s why until recent times bloodletting and other strange ideas were common practices. The colony doctor also didn’t have a great supply of medicine which made it difficult to treat illness and pain. So overall the job of the colony doctor was nothing glamorous or easy. In fact it must have been so hard to try to ‘save’ everyone in the colony that became like extended family. I guess it proves that God is evident in everything because we can look back to colonial times and see just how far we have come.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Rebecca
Rebecca:
ReplyDeleteI really liked your essay! It made me think of how far we have come along from those times. I am so glad we don’t have only ONE doctor or ONE Surgeon for everything. God has really helped develop this country in that aspect. Also, it made me think of those old time movies where one person had to go on the whole other side of town to get the doctor. I am glad we don’t do that today. Good Job!
Catelyn:
Your essay made me think that we are very spoiled today! You are right, back then the farmers and people who worked on the fields didn’t have all the machinery and equipment that we have today. I mean even today we have certain tools just for a garden but they had to do everything by hand and without all the little fancy tools we have today! Good Job!
Slave Mutiny on the Amistad
ReplyDeleteJuly 2, 1839 is the day that changed it all. Joseph Cinqué was the brave man that headed up this stand.It all started when a man by the name of Celestino made a jester that royally sparked Cinqué's temper. He slid his hand across his throat and pointed to a barrel of beef, implying that the slaves were going to be killed and eaten. If he had anything to do with it Cinqué was not letting this happen. He conjured up a way to free the slaves and convince them all to rebell for their freedom.
On the third night at sea Cinqué finally managed to free all of the captives and they then went on a hunt for the weapons aboard the ship. When they found them they uncovered a mass of machetes and multiple other weapons. Then the raid began, the captives ended up defeating all of the Spaniards that took them and only spared the lives of two only because they knew how to sail the Amistad.
I think that this is a true example of boldness and bravery but most of all determination to achieve what ever you set your mind to.
Emma,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your essay very much. It fascinated me to read how different the education was back then, I mean I knew it was different but I had no clue how extreme that difference was. I also found it interesting how the boys were allowed to further their education and girls were not, haha imagine today if they tried that! People from everywhere would be popping up having fits about calling it all sexist. But anyways really good job! (:
Rebecca,
Wonderful job on your essay it was all very well stated and I must say I agree with you fully. Doctors back then pretty much had the world on their shoulders, I can not imagine that kind of responsibility. I also liked how you mentioned God it's always nice to be reminded of the role he takes in everything.
Bethany,
I loved your essay! It is so sad when you get the reality of how awful things were for the slaves... Honestly I'm sure what we see in movies and on t.v. today isn't even half of the torture they really went through and like you I am so so happy that slavery isn't as prominent today as it was back then!
For my topic I chose the topic on the Pilgrims/Indians housing, and how different they are from each other and from us. How the Indians lived in “Wetus” and how they were made with saplings bent into a semi-circular shape to make homes. They would stay warm by using animal skins as blankets and there were fire-pits in the huts. As to the Pilgrims homes, were made like English cottages, they favor the homes that we live in today, but so much smaller. They slept above the main room which could be used as sleeping areas or storage areas. “And each family only had around 800 square feet allotted”. I think it is very interesting to learn about the way they lived when they had first arrived in America. This subject is probably one of my most favorite topics because I would like to know more about it, just to see where I came from or where my “ancestors” came from. The Pilgrims were from about 1620 or 1621. It is just fascinating to be able to learn about how they lived and what they accomplishes when today we basically have computers doing our work for us..
ReplyDelete~ Amanda Wiggington
Bethany,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your essay because your topic was so true and its definitely something to write about, and we are so blessed to not have to deal with slavery anymore and just to be in america “the land of the free” because we really are the freest people on earth!
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your essay because colonial doctors were obviously nothing like our doctors today! They would do things that would potentially kill us and they obviously didn’t have the technology that we have today. So again we are so blessed to have this technology to be able to cure these diseases and infections that we can cure with ease (some of them). But I think you made a strong point in your and I especially enjoyed reading yours
I found interesting the Topic of the food in the 13 american colonies and how they got used to the food here coming from the other side of the World.
ReplyDeleteThe people that lived near the coast with the atlantic ocean used to caught fish and whales then they sold it or they trade with the farmers who grew wheat, barley, corn, tobbaco, rice etc… They trade it by rivers along the country or the ocean coast. I guess that was kind of hard to transport the food along the country because then the fish, vegetables and meat would get old or unable to eat, we should apreciate more all this technology for keeping the food fresh we have know. Other families just moved to the coast with cows, chickens, and pigs and grew wheat and corn. That way they could eat fish and shrimps too and without trade with other people, they had everything and i think that was a very smart movement.
And there is a lot of families that still doing this but of course is not as common and easy as go to wal mart or kroger and buy the things you need.
Of course that we are better in this system than in the one they had, we can get everything from the store next to our houses without going around the country just to buy what ever you need.
@ Emma:
ReplyDeleteI think your essay about the education is very interesting, because it helps me to understand how the school was in the past. I also think it is very interesting that America had public schools in this days. I don not know how it was in Europe, but I think there were no public schools. I also think it is interesting that the girls could not go to college. I think we are lucky that we live in this century and that we all have the same rights. Very good essay!
@ Catelyn A.
I think you did a good job with your essay! It is very interesting to read about the farmers in the new world. I did not know that the New England colonies had such big problems with farming and that many people in this colonies became fisherman. I hope you continue your great work! Your essay is very good!
Christian,
ReplyDeleteYour essay is great, especially the relationship between businessmen and colonies. They did trade, but it was so “unfair”; colonies couldn’t work in big cites, because of their works. I learned things by reading your essay. Great one, that’s all I want to say.
Bethany,
I didn’t know how bad the slavery was in 18th century until I read your essay. Before, I knew there was the problem, but I didn’t know what exactly happened. I totally agree with you that we are so blessed to live in the century with less slavery. I can’t imagine what happened, I mean, we live together, we are all humans, how could people do the thing with a reason that was not a reason. This was terrible. I am so glad too that we don’t see the slavery now.
Colonies in New England always revolved around farm work. They had their own land, but they moved to New England because they didn’t want to be slaves.
ReplyDeleteIn their family, women couldn’t get educated. They didn’t have opportunity to study. So it cost the majority of the residents of colonial America could neither write nor read.
Women’s jobs were indoor things; like prepare food, sewing, and cleaning. They were most free in the summer times. Men’s jobs were outdoors stuff; like planting crops, building fences, butchering livestock. Men traveled a lot in spring and autumn, they did not travel so much in summer or winter because the road would be too muddy. They were most free in the winter times. Those days, more than90% colonies family lived out side of towns or cities, it because they have farms. So they worked at farms, and farms always were out side of towns or cities.
It seems like their lives were kind of simple, it didn’t have much exciting moments. They tried to hide somewhere then they didn’t need to be slaves, but people still would find them. Finally they were still treated badly by the newcomers. It really sad, but that happened all the time. Things re cruelty, it always bothers the people who are innocent.
Physicians in medicine during colonial times used very different techniques than what we use today. One of their strange beliefs was that all things were composed of fire, earth, water, and air. They concluded that blood was fire, phlegm was earth, black bile was water, and yellow bile was air. Most of the physicians in the colonies were surprisingly women. Dr. Samuel Fuller was a physician that attended the Salerno School of Medicine. Apparently, Fuller was responsible with killing many of his patients with his remedies. He also used the the common "fever reducer" blood letting. Many doctors used these base, foolish "cures" because it was against the law to cut and look inside of the body. Dr. Samuel Fuller died of a smallpox epidemic in the colonies in 1633.
ReplyDeleteRebecca:
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting how much doctors did back in colonial times. Good Job! :)
Bethany:
ReplyDeleteThat's so sad that we have such high slavery rates in our history.
I love clothes and I want to become a fashon designed so I decide to tell you about Early Colonial Clothing. The clothes that Plymouth colonists wore, was the same of that worn all English men in 17 century. It was made by woll and line, with some leather. There were a lot of color but every color had different meaning! For example black was indicative of solid respectability, reddish-brown was a countryman's colour and blu was worn by children and servants. Before that the English Pilgrims arrived the clothes was more confortable and it was made by animal skins (for example deer. The deer was hunted also because it have hard bone, sinew and rawhide to sewed their clothing. Until the Industial Revolution all cloth was weaving by hand. Clothes were very expansive and so they didn't change them for year and year (maybe they passed down from a lot of generationes). We can find a lot of these clother in Virginia.
ReplyDeleteI have chosen to write my essay about African Americans in the colonies. I think, when we’re talking about human beings, that black and white are the same. We are all human beings and we’re supposed to be treated equal. But in Virginia in the 18th century where over sixty percent of the inhabitants were black and ninety-two percent out of the sixty were slaves for the white people. They were bought and forced into labor raising tobacco so that the white people could sell it and make money. The first thing that hit me when I read this was that I think that we’re blessed for not having slavery in America and Europe today.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think we’re talking about here is racism. I think that everything that happened to the colored people was because of racism among white people. The white people believed, in their minds, that they were superior to the colored people simply because their skin was a different color.
I think that all that happened back in the 18th century is affecting our world even today. We don’t have slavery, which is fantastic, but we still have issues with racism and inequality all over the world.
- Josephine Pedersen
This is Lauren Dungan, I'm having to submit this anonymously because of blogspot's update. I haven't had trouble posting homework ever until now; but anyways...
ReplyDeleteI've chosen to write about the wigmakers of Colonial Life. Mostly just to make fun of Akers.
A wigmaker:
•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
In Williamsburg, Virginia, the center of all government and what not was the best place of opportunity for wigmakers and hairdressers. Wigs were a way to show your wealth and status in the community. Tradesmen, merchants, clergy, military, and ship captains all supported and purchased wigs. Five percent of the total population of Virginia could afford wigs. The barbers and wigmakers establishiments were typically near the taverns.
Edward Charlton was one of the most important wigmakers of the 18th century in Virginia and was often visited by Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and George Wythe because of his awesome wigmaking.
There really wasn't enough information given about wigmakers. This is as much as I could really get from the site.
http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/trades/tradewig.cfm
Josephine, good job! I think that the skin can't be a person better then another; the only thing that can make it is the heart.
ReplyDeleteLydia, good job too! I liked your essay! Did you know that Salerno is an italian city? :)
Lauren Dungan:
ReplyDeleteI liked your essay about wigmakers especially the part about making fun of Akers. Hopefully he will still give you an A this week. I was kind of surprised that Wigmakers did more than just make wigs. The name is kind of deceiving since they did many other things too. Good essay. Yeah buddy ;)
RebeccaDunmore:
Sounds like being the “Town Doctor” would be a pretty hard and very busy job. I wonder how different America would have been if the doctors were properly educated and had more resources to save lives. I bet it was hard to save many people’s lives without the knowledge of the body that we have today. I assume that being a doctor was much less rewarding money wise as it is today as well. That just seems like a very stressful job. Anyways, good essay.
Marta:
ReplyDeleteCould they only where brown, black, and blue? I would hate that! I love the color blue and I would be so sad if I grew up and couldn't where it in less I was a servant. I love clothes too by the way and would to some day buy something from you, but hopefully at a discount lol :)
Amanda:
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine having to live in only eight-hundred square feet of space; especially, when having many children. During the colonial era woman had on average nine children. You can see why diseases killed so many people. If you add the average children with the parents that is eleven people per eight-hundred square feet! Such accommodations to today's American standard would be thought of as quite cramped to say the least.
Bethany,
ReplyDeleteI loved your essay. I never really thought about how racist the colonists were and how many slaves there were. I thought you did an excellent job of putting it into a biblical perspective. Good Job!
Lydia,
I loved you essay as well. It was interesting to learn about how the colonists thought they were helping people when in reality they were killing them. Also, the belief that everything was either of earth, wind, water, and air was interesting. Great Job!
Marta,
I enjoyed your essay because I honestly hadn’t thought about what the colonial people wore. I knew it wasn’t anything like our today, but I still didn’t realize the colors you wore meant something. Also, I think its cool how the pilgrims made their own clothing. And I think you’d be a great fashion designer because you have the cutest accessories…but anyway great essay!
Lauren,
I love how you made fun of Akers! Good Job :D
Emma,
ReplyDeleteI think it is good that they all learned to read the Bible and were taught about God. But, i think that women shouldve been allowed to continue their education, since America is suppose to be about freedom and equality.
Caitlyn,
I cant imagine not having the modern equipment we have today, especially considering the vast majority of land they had back then. And even though it was hard work, many farmers back then grew and harvested hundreds and thousands of acres of crops, often creating most of the food for their family.
Bethany,
I totally agree with you. Slavery was absolutely terrible! This country was founded on freedom and it should stay so. But you are also right because it was sin. When Adam commited the first sin, it stayed with us and now we have to repent of our sins.
For my essay in history this week i choose to write about the religion in the colonial Englad. There were many churches. Like we have now, but what they learned about God there almost always depended where they lived. Most places even though they were churches taught very differnt things about God. But in Englad where they had church most of the time was not even a church it was a town hall type place where they could have group meeting/church services. That long ago church was much more than people make it out to be now people thought it should be a all day thing. Now some people thing twice on Sunday is to much. We have slipped slowly away from God that we dont even realize it. It's really sad. Now we all are in a denomination or non denominational which kinda makes them there own denomination right? Well then it was pretty much the same except what they belived and was taught in there church all depended on where they lived. Some people only belives what the believes cause of where they lived. I think were really lucky to be able to have so many church options all around us now and all the different belifs/denominations be able to come together and not have many problems.
ReplyDeleteAmanda i really liked your essay it was better than mine ha. I liked what you pick there houseing is very very different from ours now. Its crazy what they lived in and now to see the kinds of houses we live in. Somtimes i think we really take that stuff for granted, until we look at what they had to live in. Our lifes have been upgraded so so much its amazing! All in all your essay was great!
ReplyDeleteBethany i really enjoyed reading your essay. I think that was a great topic. I agree 100% with you. We are very lucky to not have slavery any more. It was an awful thing i cant even imagine what our country would be like now if we had that in everyday life. That is the sadest thing ever. You picked a really good topic and its very touchy with many peeopl im sure you will get many comments. All in all your essay was very good =)
ReplyDeleteBethany:
ReplyDeleteI love your essay, and I totally agree with you. Like you, am I also happy that we don’t see slavery that often anymore, but at the same time frustrated that the white people would let the colored people do all the hard work. Also that it was, that many black slaves, were surprising me.
K. Sellmaier:
I like your essay. It is some really hard punishments. I think it is hard to picture that people would do stuff like that to other people. To cut peoples ears off, I don’t think that would be worth watching
Daniel:
I found your essay quit interesting. Mostly because ’food’ is one of those things there has changed over the past years. I think it takes a lot of energy to get new, fresh food every day. Today we just go down the street to get it. Back then, they have to work for it, much more than we have today.
- Josephine Pedersen.
In my essay I will be talking about the differences between three different families, the New American family, the Native American family, and todays’ family. The new American family was a colonial family. These families were close families due to the struggles they had to face moving to a new country where they knew no one and owned nothing. The Native American families were Indian families. Those that lived off the land before the white men came over and settled. These families were designed totally different from the European families. In these families the women were held in much higher regard and often would have a ruling position. The men actually protected the women and children while the women practically ran the house and family. This isn’t much different than today’s family due to divorce. More and more often you here of single mothers are raising multiple children alone. The family today has become something of a fable because it seems to become more and rarer for families to stay together for their whole life. Families no longer sit down and eat together because the parents are too busy making more money to buy nicer stuff and there is no time to spend together and I believe this is the reasons behind divorce. Families don’t spend time together because the head of the house doesn’t think it’s important enough to bother with.
ReplyDelete