Every Day Life In Early America
The title of this post is also the name of the book I'm currently reading. (By David Freeman Hawke, highly recommended). Colonial America is my favorite era of history, but my education has been focused on the "macro level" history: Political and cultural shifts over time, crucial events, cause and effect relationships, etc. Lifestyles of the 17th and 18th century "everyman" are a bit of a historical blind spot for me. I thought I'd share some things I found interesting about life on the farm that I've learned from this book.
Keep in mind, the topic of this book is lives of British colonists, and doesn't cover other colonial powers or indigenous peoples in great depth.
"Farm life" was not a new concept to the British settlers. Farms were of course common in England, but the difference is that English farms were ingrained into a tightly knit community. English farms were smaller and built in close proximity to village centers. Communal gatherings at pubs during leisure hours were common, and farmers relied on centrally located craftsmen and merchants in the community. American farms became farther and farther away from community hubs as time went on. At first, a farmer might erect a temporary shed to hold tools or provide shelter to make his daily commute easier. Gradually, the farmer would slowly move his life and possessions out to a distant farmhouse permanently. English farmers were a cog in the machine of a village of specialized professionals that relied on each other. American farmers had greater self sufficiency, leading to the popular American phrase "Jack of all trades" to describe someone who is proficient at many things. As one writer put it: "The American farmer makes almost everything that he uses. Besides clearing the land, building houses, and making fences, he stocks his own plough, mends his wagon, makes his ox yokes and harness, and learns to supply nearly all his wants from the forest. The (furniture) in his house are of his own rude workmanship".
Have you ever wondered why Lamb is so popular in the UK, but beef and pork are far more popular in America? I had just assumed it was one of those unexplained cultural differences. Turns out this preference can be traced to farming trends in the 1600s. Early colonial farmers in the new world soon discovered that domesticating cattle and hogs made their life far easier. Cattle is said to be "the first major industry for American farmers". They were immensely profitable and thrived in the new world. Often, a herd of cattle was seen as a greater inheritance prize than the land on the farm itself. One way to generate profit from these animals was by selling Cattle meat to the crews of Tobacco ships, who had to wait weeks for cargo could be loaded for the return trip home. This was an incredibly valuable source of alternative income to the American farmers, as they did not have any say in the price at which they sold their tobacco. Prices for tobacco were dictated by British merchants who made their best judgement about the market price back home. Swine, on the other hand were valued for how convenient they were to raise and how useful they were on the farmstead. Pigs could roam free and didn't need to be closely monitored. Unlike Sheep, which required grassy meadows uncommon in the new territory, they weren't picky eaters, and wolves would generally leave them alone if a fully tusked boar was around. Every part of the pig was useful. The intestines for sausages, the fat for cooking, the tusks for tools, and so on.
I'll conclude with a small bit about the weather. English colonists found that the weather in New England and the Chesapeake region vaguely resembled that which they were accustomed to. One thing that I didn't know, was that the variances between the seasons were new for them. Winters were much colder than what they were accustomed to, and of course summers were much hotter. While seasonal variances were tolerable, the colonists were completely unprepared for extreme weather. Things like winter nor easters, thunderstorms, or even hurricanes were a complete shock. Interestingly, the first recorded hurricane in the New World took place in 1635, in Massachusetts! One settler recorded: "(The hurricane) blew down many hundreds of trees, overthrew houses, drove ships from their anchors." Personally, I can't imagine how scared these people must have felt taking shelter from a hurricane in 17th century architecture. It's still scary today!
Thanks for your time, I hope you enjoyed these little facts as much as I did.
- 33rd President