Beyond The History Books: The True Day-to-Day Existence In Colonial America
Given its fundamental significance to the country, it's not uncommon for Americans to romanticize their nation's colonial era. That's not just because the period's major events led up to an unprecedented Revolutionary War but also because of the roles that so many venerated people (some of whom have since become presidents) had in building a country from the ground up.
However, even studying the hardships of the American Revolution doesn't really put one in the right frame of mind to understand what it was like to live in Colonial America. Once people go far enough back into the past, they'll find that even boring day-to-day life is no picnic.
Rich Americans had a low-tech, architectural air conditioner
According to Mount Vernon's website, this short spire that features a weather vane and panels of windows is called a cupola. It looked nice and was more likely to be seen on public buildings than private residences, but there was a reason that George Washington added it to his mansion's roof.
As it turned out, this design decision was the closest that Washington could have come to installing an air conditioner in his home. That's because the window design was intended to draw the warm air that built up in the house during the summer out and replace it with a draft that ran through the mansion.
Taxes were incredibly low but there wasn't much to pay for
According to Mount Vernon's website, the taxes imposed on Colonial Americans may seem a little puzzling as the catalyst for an entire revolution. Although Americans hardly enjoyed paying taxes on land or specific goods like tea, the taxes they paid only amounted to between 1% and 1.5% of their income.
It's worth noting that for British subjects living in England at the time, that number would have increased to between 5% and 7%. However, aside from the fact that Americans didn't think it was fair to pay taxes without any parliamentary representation, the fact that those taxes didn't pay for government services was also galling. The roads and infrastructure were poor, the frontiers and seas were not well-defended, and there weren't many civil services to speak of.
Georgia was a particularly harsh colony to land in
Although no early English settlers had it easy when they first arrived in what would become the United States, Georgia was a particularly perilous place to settle down. According to Georgia Public Broadcasting, the heat, constant insect infestations, and rampant disease outbreaks all contributed to an alarming mortality rate.
To explain this rate, it's worth noting that there were 144 original English settlers in Georgia. In the earliest years of settlement, almost a third of these people passed away. Even for Colonial America, those are heavy losses.
Pregnancy in Colonial America was all but a death sentence
According to Digital History, women had a 1% to 1.5% chance of dying in childbirth every time they gave birth. However, the risk of dying was higher than that percentage suggests because women were expected to have between five and eight children in their lifetimes. As a result, one in eight women in Colonial America would eventually die in childbirth.
However, the real risk of pregnancy wasn't childbirth itself but contracting smallpox. According to the Tully Historical Society, 32% of adults over 45 perished once they contracted smallpox. By comparison, that was the fate of 96% of pregnant women who contracted the disease.
The only firefighters people had were their neighbors
According to The History Channel, almost every home in Colonial America had a heavy leather fire bucket by the front door. This was due to the fact that there wasn't a dedicated fire service, so every community had to put out fires themselves.
They did this by lining up and passing buckets filled with water towards the fire. That line also worked backward, allowing empty buckets to be passed back and refilled. Although fires are much more efficiently fought now, that method was all they had back then.
There was a middle ground between slavery and freedom
According to PBS, it took considerable wealth to afford to settle in the original British colonies, leaving those few who could manage the cost with more land than they could handle. To address this problem, firms like The Virginia Company were able to provide cheap labor through a concept called indentured servitude.
Although these servants had more rights than enslaved people, they were also treated similarly harshly and also lived lifestyles restricted by their employers. The major difference, however, was that they worked under fixed contracts and were both freed and paid for their efforts when those five-to-seven-year contracts were fulfilled. Those contracts could be extended if the servants broke laws or became pregnant, though.
Colonial surgery was scarier than the actual ailment
Although Civil War surgeons were rightly dreaded by wounded soldiers, that was partially because their techniques weren't always far removed from what surgeons would have attempted a century earlier. Indeed, the chances of surviving battlefield wounds weren't high with the kind of care soldiers could expect to receive.
According to Georgia Public Broadcasting, the amputations that would characterize much of Civil War medicine were commonplace during the Revolutionary War as well. Moreover, bloodletting and even a process that cut holes into the skull (called trepanning) were also practiced.
Candle making was an important but hard process
According to Portland State University, every colonial homemaker was expected to create a healthy enough supply of candles to last the winter during autumn. Since there wasn't any electricity in Colonial America, there were few other ways to light someone's home at the time.
However, the process of making these candles was backbreaking work that took all day. The women would dip rows of candle rods and wicks into iron kettles filled with boiling water and melted animal tallow. The best-quality candles were made by pouring that tallow into pewter molds, which could produce six to 24 candles at a time.
Married women were literally considered property
Although it's well-known that women didn't have the right to vote in Colonial America, that doesn't scratch the surface of the lack of rights they had at large. According to Portland State University, a man could legally do just about anything to his wife besides commit murder.
Meanwhile, women had no control over their property, inheritances, and earnings if they worked outside the home. Alongside the lack of voting rights, they also couldn't be witnesses in court. Moreover, a woman who ran away from her husband was considered a thief because she was stealing both herself and the clothes on her back.
Meals often consisted of puddings and stews
According to Portland State University, the meals that an average colonial family ate together tended to stay more or less the same from day to day for practical purposes. Breakfast usually consisted of a type of pudding called mash, made from either oatmeal or cornmeal and supplemented with milk and molasses.
Although dinner tends to be the biggest meal of the day in modern times, this meal largely consisted of leftovers from earlier meals in Colonial America. Instead, lunch was the larger meal and usually consisted of a stew, as homemakers could check this less often and only needed one pot to make it. The ingredients depended on the season.
Being an American prisoner of war could be deadly
According to the National Park Service, American colonists who were captured during the Revolutionary War weren't treated like prisoners of war, since that would involve recognizing America's government. Instead, most were confined to prison ships, where they were neglected in damp conditions that were ideal for diseases to flourish.
Once the Continental Army captured enough British soldiers and Hessian mercenaries, prisoner exchanges became possible. However, most prisoners of war weren't lucky enough to be involved, which meant that 8,500 of the 20,000 American POWs wouldn't live to see freedom again.
America's first synagogue was established in Rhode Island
Although a significant number of the Founding Fathers believed wholeheartedly in the separation of church and state, this was considered a more revolutionary idea during the 17th Century. As Harvard Magazine noted, however, it was nonetheless a view adopted by Rhode Island's founder, Roger Williams.
It's true that the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States is in Manhattan, but word spread that they were not treated well by the other residents of what was then called New Amsterdam. However, Rhode Island's prevailing religious philosophy made it a more welcoming place for Jewish residents, which ensured favorable enough conditions to establish Newport's Touro Synagogue in 1763.
Each region was dominated by a different denomination
According to the American Battlefield Trust, the Middle Colonies, Southern Colonies, and New England were founded by people of different religions, which affected the character of those places. Specifically, these differences also had some influence over how loyal people in these regions were to the British crown.
For instance, the Southern Colonies tended to favor the Church of England. So, while these colonies eventually joined the American Revolution, they also had more loyalist militias than the rest of the burgeoning nation. By contrast, the Puritans who dominated New England were the most passionate about independence from Britain. Although middle colonies like Pennsylvania and New York were founded by Quakers, these areas tended to be the most diverse because many of these founders were committed to religious liberty.
Women married very young whether they wanted to or not
According to Portland State University, the lives of women in Colonial America were hard enough on a daily basis without the pressure girls experienced to marry. Although young men weren't immune to this pressure either, girls were expected to get married as early as 13.
Although it was fairly socially acceptable to get married at 18, it's easy to underestimate how hostile society would become to a young woman who waited much longer than that. If a woman wasn't married by 25, she was socially humiliated. With this in mind, marriage was more likely to occur for social or economic reasons than romantic ones.
Many indentured servants were English convicts
According to NPR, the British Transportation Act of 1718 allowed the English to transfer convicts to the American colonies to work as indentured servants — mostly in Maryland and Virginia. While people who volunteered for this work often did so in exchange for passage to the colonies, these people were essentially buying their freedom.
Benjamin Franklin was among the colonists who objected to this idea, comparing it to sending all of America's rattlesnakes to England. However, the cheap labor would turn out to benefit colonial farmers and merchants, and most of the 60,000 servants who were sent over to America ended up starting new lives there.
Native Americans who lost European wars were enslaved
Although the British had dominion over America's original 13 colonies prior to the Revolutionary War, the "New World" was still marked by warfare between European powers and their Native American allies. While it's well-known that European expansion and the smallpox they carried devastated Native American populations, war and disease weren't their only problems.
As National Geographic explained, Native Americans who supported the losing side in a European turf war were often either indentured or enslaved. Although the conflicts typically happened away from the 13 colonies, that doesn't mean they weren't involved. Enslaved Native Americans were shipped out of colonial ports — most notably in South Carolina — to Canada and other places under British control.
It was easy to be a criminal, and punishments were severe
According to Connecticut History, New England's early leaders made strict laws against blasphemy, idleness, adultery, and stealing. Although these weren't the only laws they enforced, they're worth mentioning because the punishments authorities imposed for these behaviors were way out of proportion.
Although this changed by the late 18th Century, public stocks like the one pictured here, flogging, dunking, branding, and even removal of a person's ear were common punishments for violating colonial laws. Since these laws were set by early town leaders, they tended to vary from place to place.
Education was often more informal than not
Although formal education certainly existed throughout Colonial America, those of fewer means or who lived away from larger cities tended to educate their children themselves. According to The History Channel, it also wasn't uncommon for local church leaders to teach children to read and write.
As such, the tool that this boy is being depicted using — called a hornbook — was a common way to help teach kids the basics. It's also worth noting that while boys were taught to read and write, this wasn't often considered necessary education for girls.
Samplers were the most common education tool for girls
Instead of formal education, many girls in Colonial America were brought up learning the many domestic chores they would be expected to perform daily once they were married. While many of these chores didn't have specific tools intended to practice a girl's skills, samplers like this were an exception.
According to The History Channel, a sampler was a piece of embroidered cloth that young girls used to practice their needlework. While those who were literate might etch poems into their samplers, most samplers were filled with patterns and designs like these. Particularly skilled girls were known to weave elaborate religious scenes onto their samplers.
Women had few opportunities besides homemaking
Unless a woman in Colonial America came from a wealthy enough family to afford servants, she not only cooked and cleaned her home but also made their own clothing, made home tools to use and sell, maintained the fire and the vegetable gardens, cared for the animals, and all but served as doctors for their families.
Although this domestic work was both overwhelming and under-appreciated, it nonetheless amounted to most women's experience at the time. Since girls couldn't attend college, the only other jobs they could typically get were school mistresses, midwives, tavern keepers, or domestic servants for other people.
Dance was more popular in Colonial America than it seems
According to the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, the disdain that many Puritans in New England had for dancing is sometimes misconstrued as a ban on dancing in that region. Although leaders in that area would fine people for dancing in a way they deemed inappropriate, they didn't ban it outright, and dancing was as popular there as in the rest of the nation.
Even if it wasn't, it's not exactly like New England spoke for the middle or southern colonies. Indeed, Mount Vernon's website quoted George Washington as describing dance as "so agreeable and innocent an amusement" and credited him for being a terrific dancer.
Puritans didn't like the rise of theater either
Considering how intertwined British and American cultures were in early Colonial America, it's likely not surprising that most early theater consisted of plays written in England that featured popular British songs. However, the first recorded theatrical performance from 1665 is only known because a man named Edward Martin objected to it.
Although the Puritans of New England were often as hostile to theater as they were to dance, this complaint was lodged in Virginia. However, a panel of judges in Accomack not only declared the play (Ye Beare and Ye Cubb) innocent but also ordered Martin to pay the production's legal fees. Once again, Mount Vernon also described George Washington as an avid theater patron.
Quilting parties were serious social engagements
Although this photo shows that quilting bees were hardly limited to the colonial era, Portland State University described them as second only to religious gatherings in social importance back then. Although they presented a chance for women to socialize at the time, these quilting bees also saw men gather together while their wives worked.
Since most homes were heated by one crowded room during the winter, quilting bees were only feasible once the weather warmed. The hostess would cook for her guests and their husbands once the quilt was finished. Since these husbands expected to be fed at a set time, quilting bees often began early in the morning.
Colonial families would hang fruit to freshen their homes
Considering what a challenge maintaining personal hygiene was in Colonial America compared to the modern United States, pioneers had to get creative in keeping their homes smelling as fresh as possible. One of the most common ways of doing this was to make and hang pomanders from ribbons in their homes.
A pomander was a piece of fruit (usually an orange) that had cloves pushed into it, as shown in this photo. People also rubbed these pomanders with oils and spices to improve the aromas coming from them and to make the effect last longer. They were a particularly common sight around holidays.
Wealthy women in Colonial America imported British shoes
As Mount Vernon's website explained, Martha Washington was a wealthy widow by the time she married America's first president, which meant that she could afford to have shoes custom-made (not pictured) for their wedding. Indeed, this was something other wealthy women in the nation did at the time, and they sought out London's best craftsmen for the job.
Indeed, the tastes of America's early elite tended to match Britain's, and England's most prestigious shoemakers were as hotly demanded as today's prominent fashion designers. Although these women's wealth allowed them to order shoes to their exact specifications, they tended to defer to English trends.
Widows had more rights than other women, but not for long
Although Portland State University explained that women generally couldn't hold property in Colonial America, widows were the only real exception to this policy. Although they only received one-third of their husband's property, they had control over it and could even vote in some cases, though they weren't always made aware of that.
However, the catch was that these weren't rights so much as temporary privileges because widows were immediately pressured to remarry as soon as possible. Some colonies proposed laws to force widows to marry seven years after their husbands' deaths, but the social pressure compelled most of them to marry within a year anyway.
Divorce was allowed, but remarriage was not
Considering the Puritan culture of New England in colonial times, it may come as a surprise to learn that the first American divorce took place in Massachusetts. According to the Law Office of Kevin L. Beard, however, leaders in these colonies considered marriages civil contracts, so they allowed for divorce as early as 1629. However, that didn't make divorces easy.
Although men had an easier time divorcing their wives than vice-versa, both had to petition their colony's governor or legislature for the right and needed specific grounds like bigamy, abandonment, severe mistreatment, or adultery for the divorce to be granted. Even then, divorces were effectively considered separations in modern terms, as divorced people couldn't remarry as long as their former spouses were still alive.
All children's toys in Colonial America were DIY projects
Since the Industrial Revolution was — at best — a century away during colonial times, there were no mass produced children's toys. Instead, they were made by the child's family using common materials they could spare around the house.
One of the more common toys made during this period was the whirligig, which whirred and buzzed as the child pulled and released a string threaded through a circular disc. This disc was often made of bone or clay, but even a loose button could work as a whirligig base.
Drinking the water was a terrible, deadly idea
Although people tend to get colorful ideas as to why colonial Americans drank more alcohol than people in modern times, the reasons were more practical than pleasurable. As the Smithsonian Magazine explained, potable water was scarce at the time, so alcoholic beverages were considered safer to drink, even among children.
While there are many good reasons why it's illegal for children to consume alcohol now, water would have been the much more dangerous alternative in Colonial America. In addition to something unpleasant called "black vomit," water was likely to introduce life-altering diseases like smallpox or lockjaw.
Some women preferred to be captured by Native Americans
While it's common for people to think that those in centuries past were simply tougher than they are today, it's hard to overstate how utterly miserable the experiences of many colonial women were. According to Portland State University, the reality for them was so bleak that it wasn't unheard of for women on the frontier to consider capture by Native American tribes a blessing in disguise.
While some may assume that they didn't have any other choice, the fact was that many of them did have the opportunity to return to their original communities. Since they saw themselves as closer to equality within the tribes that ultimately adopted them, they voluntarily embraced that membership.
Cotton wasn't quite king in the South yet
Although it's no secret that cotton production in Colonial America happened on the backs of enslaved people for centuries, it's easy to overestimate how important cotton was to the region's economy before the Revolutionary War. According to Mount Vernon's website, the 36,360,575 pounds of cotton that America exported between 1804 and 1806 amounted to 1,000 times what the nation produced just 30 years earlier.
In the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, the same fields could expect to produce an average of 29,425 pounds per year. This made it a negligible portion of the American agricultural economy as cash crops like tobacco, wheat, and rice were much more widely planted.
Threshing was much simpler and more time-consuming
In modern farming, the first step of harvesting typically involves separating usable parts of corn, wheat, and other grain crops from their seeds and husks using a large, drivable piece of equipment. Although this process was just as important in Colonial America, all they could use to accomplish it were simple tools called flails.
According to The History Channel, these consisted of two large wooden sticks (though the one on the business end was smaller) bound by rope, a short chain, or a leather strap. With this tool, farmers and their workers would beat the crops, thus knocking the seeds and other chaff out of them.
Even after the Revolution, America didn't quite have dollars
Although Mount Vernon's website noted that some colonies tried to alleviate America's extreme silver and gold coin scarcity by issuing their own currencies (usually backed by British pounds), Britain's Parliament continuously blocked these attempts. For this reason, Virginia and some other colonies were known for using tobacco receipts and foreign coins as currency.
While it's true that the American government established gold-backed U.S. dollars and the U.S. Mint, they only set the value of a dollar. What that dollar actually looked like varied from bank to bank until the American Civil War. There were so many banks issuing promissory notes that entire companies dedicated themselves to ranking these notes.
The social status of a table's diners was indicated by salt
The item pictured here is a salt cellar, which is essentially an early version of a salt shaker without a top. Although it was certainly used to season and preserve food in Colonial America as it was in ancient times, there was a cultural importance to a salt cellar at the dinner table as well.
According to The History Channel, American colonists carried on a tradition from Medieval Europe in which those seated "above the salt" were the guests of honor. This positioning meant that they sat on the same end of the table as the host and hostess. Meanwhile, children and guests whom the hosts cared about less sat below the salt.
American traders were strongly restricted from Asian trade
Prior to the American Revolution, American merchants had to adhere to strict British shipping regulations that usually required them to transfer their goods through London or Glasgow. Yet, perhaps the most restrictive regulation all but banned these merchants from trading anywhere near India or China.
According to Mount Vernon's website, this was because firms with direct ties to the British crown (like the East India Company) held monopolies on the most valuable commodities in these nations, like tea and spices. Trading in these areas either meant incurring Britain's wrath or coming back with commodities that weren't worth the trip.
Sugar was considered fancy and was sold much differently
Although sugar wasn't quite expensive enough that only the rich could afford it, it was still considered luxurious enough to be a very occasional treat for Americans of more modest means. While it's true that people often used grains of sugar as they do today, the customer had to make those grains themselves.
That's because they usually bought sugar in loaves (or cones, as the man at right in this illustration is holding) and chipped the sugar they would need for their tea or other refreshments off with special shears called sugar nippers. Each cone could weigh up to ten pounds.
There were no U.S. banks before the Revolutionary War
According to Mount Vernon's website, part of the reason that pre-revolutionary currency was so scarce was that the United States didn't have a single bank to its name until 1781. Indeed, the first bank (pictured) only came to be as a means of funding the Continental Army's war efforts after Congress's "continental dollar" idea fell through.
After the war, Philadelphia's Bank Of North America was joined by Boston's Massachusetts Bank and Alexander Hamilton's Bank Of New York in 1784. The current landscape of widespread banking didn't start until the Bank Of The United States was established in 1791.
People didn't use forks until just before the Revolution
When people in Colonial America ate together, they typically used wooden dishes called trenchers, which featured a hollow portion in the center that held food. However, that was likely the only tool a given diner would have in front of them unless they were eating something that required a spoon.
According to The History Channel, this was because most people ate with their hands whenever possible. Although this changed and utensils became more commonly available by the 18th Century, that was also the last period in which America could be described as "colonial."
Women had more economic influence than it seemed
Despite the myriad ways women were hamstrung by Colonial America's laws and conventions, Mount Vernon's website nonetheless credited them for managing to exert a significant economic influence over their society anyway. Although this partially came from their investment in land, the fledgling stock market, and government bonds, their day-to-day activities had their own influence.
Since they were the primary purchasers of household goods, merchants and farmers had to gear their wares toward women's tastes to stay in business. Although most of them weren't allowed to own property, that didn't necessarily stop them from managing their husbands' plantations, stores, and early factories. By the 1790s, 10% of all financial transactions were made by women.
People mostly told time with sundials
Although mechanical clocks and watches existed before the American Revolution, they were incredibly rare items in Colonial America. For that reason, most people used the Sun to tell them the time of day.
According to The History Channel, sundials like the one in the background of this painting were so effective at charting the Sun's daily progress across the sky that they were almost as accurate as mechanical watches. Those who didn't have one handy would instead scratch the Sun's noon-time position into their windows and judge the time with that mark.
Many colonists had to keep their own sheep
Although it was certainly possible to buy pre-made fabrics in Colonial America, that was a luxury that was out of the price range of most Americans at the time. According to The History Channel, they had to make them at home with the wool from their sheep.
Once the wool was extracted, they "carded" it using two thin boards with wire teeth. By running the wool back and forth between these cards, colonists could ensure it would thread properly by facing the same direction and being free of tangles.
Colonists used to heat their bedsheets at night
Those who entered an American colonist's home may have seen an unusual pan hanging by their kitchen fireplace. According to The History Channel, this was called a warming pan, and its job was to make the nights less bitterly cold.
Before people went to bed in Colonial America, they would sometimes fill these pans with hot coals, stick them into their beds, and move the pans back and forth very rapidly. The speed of these movements was supposed to keep the sheets from burning.
Ice cream existed, but only the rich could have it
According to Smithsonian Magazine, George Washington was an avid lover of ice cream. Yet, while he could put the infrastructure in place to have it regularly at the White House, most people rarely (if ever) got to try it.
That was because ice cream was much more complicated and resource-intensive to make back then. Those who had cows typically valued their milk and cream too much to waste it on this treat, to say nothing of the valuable sugar and salt it used up. It was also hard to keep the ice cold enough for it without an ice house, which most people didn't have.
Most enslaved people only wore two outfits each year
Although clothing options in Colonial America were fewer than they are now, the resources that were available allowed for both summer and winter outfits. Wool was the right material for the colder months, while cotton and linens were more typical choices when things got hot.
Even those who took advantage of slavery typically understood the practicality of dressing enslaved people differently for the time of year. That's why Mount Vernon's website mentioned that Washington's enslaved field workers would have one summer outfit and one winter outfit to wear all year.
Most doctors didn't go to medical school
According to Washington Crossing Historical Park, seeing a doctor for a major procedure was a risky proposition, as they weren't aware that they had to sterilize their instruments and wash their hands before they began. And even if medical schools at the time were advanced enough to teach otherwise, it wouldn't have mattered.
That was because only The Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia and King's College in New York had medical schools by 1777. Instead, most of the 3,500 doctors practicing in America by then would have apprenticed with other doctors for seven years to get where they were.