Colonial Work and Jobs
By Haley Burke
What were are some of the most important colonial work?
Fur Trade: North America had a huge variety of fur-bearing animals. Some colonist's were trappers and others were fur traders. The beaver was a really important animal that the French and English fought over, which lead to the beaver wars. The beavers skin were used for making hats, and Great Britain made over 21 million beaver skin hats through 1700-1770.
Shipbuilding: The shipbuilding was extremely important for the New England colonies, because most trade was conducted on water. American shipbuilding was used for catching fish and trade. Also, large timbers made shipbuilding cheap.
Staves and headings for making barrels: The colonial work and jobs related to staves and headings were extremely important, but were often overlooked. The headings was the lids and the staves were the narrow strips of woods, which were used to make barrels. The barrels were used for transporting products such as, rum, flower, fruit, bread, salted meat and fish. They also used it for their workers to make finished goods.
There were a lot of other jobs in colonial america, including textile industries, mills, yards and distilleries, land and hand-right system, hemp, tobacco, cotton, timber and lumber, fishing and whaling, iron making, and indigo.
What jobs did women have?
Colonial housewives started their work day early by modern standards. They built and made the fire, carried the water, picked their fruits and vegetables for meals they were making that day from their garden and chose meats from their smokehouse.
What chore/jobs did the boys and girls have back then?
The boys did a lot of hunting and building. Working on the farm was a part of their daily lives. To them they didn't have chores they had work. Boys in the City tended to work in their fathers shop. But school came first for them and they scheduled their work around school.
My Reaction:
I wonder why women didn't have the opportunity for education? The website that I was reading said, when the women got married they belonged to the men. So the men could beat their wives and make them do a lot of other things, as well. The women had no land, because it belonged to her husband, including her clothes and other belongings. They couldn't even vote or go to court. So if I was married in this time, I don't think I would have a great life.