Children in the Revolutionary War
It's a Hard, Hard Life
The Young Adults
Before the Revolutionary War most children did not live a life of luxury, instead they would get up early to do work around farms, walk long distances to school and complete more chores in the evening. During the war, children had an even shorter childhood as frequently fathers or older brothers would join the army causing young children to take on more adult responsibilities and jobs. Even though most children would not attend school after they learned to read and write, all children would find that the majority of schoolmasters had gone to fight in the war, leaving no one to teach them. Life during the war was changed the most for children who lived where battles were fought or if their family traveled with the army as refugees, but effects of the war could easily spread to a child's home life and their life at school.
A Revolutionary War School With it's Students and Teacher
A Mother's Love
A Boy on the Battle Front
Important Facts
- By the time a child was 3 years old they would be expected to do simple chores such as weeding the garden, washing dishes and tending to chickens.
- The more family members fighting in the war, the more work that a child would have to do
- Walking to school could take up to an hour or more
- If children lived in an area where there were still schoolteachers were still around children should have known how to read and write by the time the were 8 years old and generally finished school when they were 13.