Lindsey Watts

Abby Martin
ECE 4403

Introduction

Colonial times refers to the period of colonization of what is now the United States, extending

from 1607 through 1776. Most of the settlers were from Britain. Colonists were men, women and

children and men held jobs as large landowners, artisans, farmers, and other various jobs. There

were indentured servants and slaves that also came to the colonies, some from England and some

from Africa. There were Native Americans living on the land when the colonists first arrived, but

there were many struggles over land.

A. New England Foundations

Consisted of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

Was mostly founded for religious freedom.

Puritans and Pilgrims are examples of religious groups looking for freedom in this area.

o These religious groups were very strict and intolerant of other religions.

There was no separation between religion and government.

Rhode Island broke off into its own colony to get away from the Puritans and its strict

rules

New Hampshire was settled for economic reasons and was a fishing colony. This is the

only colony in New England that was not settled because of religious reasons.

B. Mid-Atlantic Foundations

Consisted of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York.

Founded primarily for religious reasons, but also had a lot of economic gains.
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Much more tolerant that the New England area, especially when it came to religion and

different religious groups.

Some examples of religious groups present in this area were Quakers, Lutherans, and

Protestants.

The land in this region was very fertile, and they became the bread basket to all of the

colonies.

C. Southern Foundations

Consisted of Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina

Founded almost entirely for economic reasons.

Land in the South was divided into great plantations.

Some of things that were grown in the South were tobacco, corn indigo, and rice.

Later, cotton became a great source of income for the South.

A. New England Lifestyle

Harsh climate

Made up of small farms.

Most families grew enough for just them.

If they do not have something they need, they cannot send off to the big city or back

to England or Scotland to get it. They make almost everything they use (Knight, The

Village: Life in Colonial Times, 1998).

Even though they (Pilgrims and Puritans) fled Europe because they were being

persecuted, they were not very tolerant of other religions and were closed off to other

groups.
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Immediately established government and laws once arriving and settling their colony.

Citizens were given input in government matters.

Shipping and manufacturing were important businesses in this area.

B. Mid-Atlantic Lifestyle

Bread Basket of the colonies.

Staple crop was grain.

Government in this area varied depending on the area in its organization and

influence.

Fishing and shipping were important to this region

C. Southern Lifestyle

Very mild climate.

This area used cheap and free labor such as slaves or indentured servants.

Most of the economy in the south was based on cash crops such as tobacco.

Relied heavily on outside sources to ship crops abroad.

Because the south was made of large plantations, people did not always live very close to

each other as in other colonies, and so government did not hold much power.

A. Life as Large Landowners

Mostly found in the Southern colonies where cash crops were most successful.

Held more power in the community than other people with less land.

Large landowners relied immensely on free or cheap labor.

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Large landowners usually had a couple hundred acres of land. Because of this, they were

able to make better use of the land that they had (Knight, The Farm: Life in Colonial

Pennsylvania, 1998).

They would not use the same land over and over again because this ruins the soil.

Instead, they would let their fields lie fallow every couple of years (they would not use

the fields).

So, the farmers would rotate the fields used and they would also rotate the crops used on

the fields. (The same crop would not be planted on the same field two years in a row.)

Because of this, the farmers with access to enough land were able to produce more food

per foot than other farmers who did not use these techniques.

B. Life as Farmers

These were often small scale farmers unless they were large landowners.

Farmers grew all types of different crops based on their location.

o In the north, crops such as beans, pumpkins, corn, and squash were grown

(Plantations of New England, 2017).

o In the south, crops such as tobacco, cotton, corn, melons, and strawberries were

grown (Plantations of New England, 2017).

It was very hard work to be a farmer since it was difficult to plant, water, and harvest

crops very efficiently due to lack of farm equipment.

Small scale farmers such as these did not usually have slaves to help as they could not

afford them.
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C. Life as Artisans

Did not often own much land, if any (Whos Who in The Colonies, 2009).

Had a specialized skill set such as blacksmithing, pottery, tanning leather, candle making,

or printing (Knight, The Village: Life in Colonial Times, 1998).

Often used a bartering system so they did not always require currency.

D. Life as Women

Could not hold jobs like men and were not allowed to get an education.

Women had to work in colonial times, but could only have jobs that were deemed fit for

women. Sometimes they would have shops in their house such as a candle shop for

candle makers (Knight, The Village: Life in Colonial Times, 1998).

They would also raise children, prepare meals, clean, make and mend clothing, tend to

gardens, prepare food in the winter, or any other household task that was required

(Colonial America, n.d.).

E. Life as Children

Most children worked very hard and did whatever jobs their parents asked of them

(Hennessy, 1999).

Male children went to school if their family did not need them to work.

o Students usually did not finish elementary school by the time they were needed

back at home in order to help work.

o Even if they did not go to school, they still learned how to read and write

(Colonial America, n.d.).

When working, male children usually helped their fathers doing the heavier labor on the

farms and in the fields.

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o They could pick the harvest, sow seeds, tend to livestock, or anything else that

their fathers needed help with.

Female children did not usually attend school.

o It was often unheard of for a female to learn how to read and write, although some

girls learned by listening to their brothers lessons.

Female children often worked at home with their mothers.

o They would cook, clean, care for siblings, and any other task in the home that

their mothers would request of them.

F. Life as Indentured Servants

Immigrants who signed contracts in order to come to the colonies in exchange for

citizenship.

First, they would sign the paperwork with the ship captain before sailing off to the

colonies (Knight, The Farm: Life in Colonial Pennsylvania, 1998).

Once they landed at one of the colonies, employers would come aboard the ship and look

at all of the possible indentured servants. Once they picked one, the employer would pay

the captain for the indentured servants passage to the colony (Knight, The Farm: Life in

Colonial Pennsylvania, 1998).

Skilled laborers were usually picked quicker than unskilled laborers. They also served

less time than unskilled laborers (Knight, The Farm: Life in Colonial Pennsylvania,

1998).

Typically worked four to seven years in exchange for somewhere to live, food to eat,

sometimes a paycheck, but most importantly for freedom (Indentured Servants in The

U.S., n.d.).
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If they did receive a paycheck, it was often very small and could only afford some food.

If they worked on a farm, sometimes the farm owners would allow them to live off the

land and eat their crops.

Originally, there were no slave laws so Africans that came over were treated as

indentured servants and were therefore given many of the same freedoms and rights as

white men.

Once labor demands grew, indentured servants cost more.

o This caused many landowners to feel threatened by indentured servants as once

they were free, they could have their own land as well.

o This worried the rich landowners and thus indentured servitude decreased and

slavery increased, eventually taking over.

G. Life as Slaves

Original settlers did not have slaves as there were no slave laws.

Slave laws were passed in Massachusetts in 1641 then Virginia in 1661. These laws

eliminated any of the freedoms that Africans had.

Slaves were here full swing by the early 1700s and generally belonged to the rich, large

landowners. Small farms often could not afford slaves.

Slaves worked on farms and did tasks such as plowing fields, picking crops, tending to

livestock, caring for their owners by cooking their meals, cleaning their houses, raising

their children, and many other various tasks.

They were required to do whatever their masters told them to do and would often get

lashes if they did not comply, or sometimes just for not complying fast enough.
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Slaves did not get paid for their work and were often given very little to eat. They were

typically forced to live in a small shed-like structure with many other slaves.

F. Life as American Indians

Initially got along with the settlers and were introduced to new items such as iron tools,

glass beads, and other new items from Europe (Shaughnessy, 1997).

Used bartering system with settlers for things such as food, fur pelts, handmade jewelry,

and other native secrets of the New World. The Natives taught the settlers many things

like how to live off the land and how to grow many different crops (Hermes, 2002).

There were many different tribes at the time of colonization.

o Some tribes included Muskogees, Shawnees, Choctaws, Seminoles, and

Cherokees, Ottowas, Tuscaroras, Wampanoag, Powhatan, and Yanktons.

The League of the Iroquois was formed in 1570 and was a council comprised of 50

representatives from each of the five tribes that agreed to be part of this council

(Colonial-Indian Relations, n.d.).

o This allowed the tribes to create common laws between themselves. This is what

kept the league strong through the 1600s and 1700s.

The Pequot War happened in 1637 as a result of a Native American uprising (Colonial-

Indian Relations, n.d.).

o The Native Americans were resisting the colonists settlement of the Connecticut

River.

The League sided with the British during the French Indian War from 1754 to 1763. They

are attributed to the success of the British during said war (Colonial-Indian Relations,

n.d.).
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Upon the American Revolution, the group members were unable to decide on leaders,

which resulted in the crippling of the League (Colonial-Indian Relations, n.d.).

Some members sided with the British, some with the colonists, and some tried to stay

neutral. Because of this, all sides fought against the Iroquois which resulted in great loss.

There were great attempts to assimilate them into being as close to the white man as

possible.

They converted them to Christianity, taught them to read and write, and how to maintain

European styles of living.

o After a while, assimilation was not enough and the settlers pushed the Native

Americans out of their land.

President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian-Removal Act in 1830 (Trail of Tears,

2009).

This allowed the federal government to exchange the land held by the Native Americans

in the East for land in the West. This meant that Native Americans were to be moved

from the East and relocated to the West coast.

In 1831, the U.S. Army expelled the Choctaw Indians from their land and thus began The

Trail of Tears (Trail of Tears, 2009).

o Native Americans were forced to go to the West coast and give up their land.

o Numerous Natives did not make the long, harsh trip, therefore coining the name

of the trip The Trail of Tears due to the amount of loss for the American

Indians.
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Abby Martin
ECE 4403
Bibliography

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