What It Was Like In The Colonial Times

What It Was
Like In The
Colonial
Times?

By Alex Parmerter

Table of Contents

1. Welcome to the 13 Colonies
2. The Colonist’s Town
3. A Colonial Household
4. I’m Hungry
5. Ready For Work?
6. Let's Get Dressed!
7. School Time
8. A Child’s Day
9. Play A Game!
10. Traveling Time!
11. The U.S.A.
12. Glossary
13. Bibliography

Welcome to the 13 Colonies Thirteen Colonies

Before the 1600’s, the Native
Americans lived in what we now know
as the United States of America. The
Native’s were still there, but the
explorers found the land. The
explorers invited some people from
where they lived to the new land. The
people wanted to go for different
reasons. They went for, adventure, to
get rich from trade, and to have
religious freedom. The kings from the
countries that the people came from
owned the land, so they were colonies.
A colony is a small village or town
owned by another country.

The Dutch were the first to sail
to what we know as New York.
The Dutch owned the land at
first, but later gave it up to
King George, who owned all
the colonies. King George gave
his brother, The Duke Of York,
the land. That is how New York
became New York. The Duke of
York didn’t change much for
the colonists. He let them live
the same. The colonists just
had to follow the British rules.

Click for a tour of a
colonial town!

The Colonist’s Town Fun Fact:
The colonists didn’t use money
Hi. I’m Edward. I live in a small town too often. They traded most of
in Philadelphia. The roads here are the time.
unpaved, and most of the buildings are
made out of brick. The buildings are
tiny, leaving only a few bigger
buildings. The Governor, Mr.
Christopher, is the leader of the
colony. Before I was born, colonists
gathered in taverns. My mom says
taverns were used as a dining,
sleeping, and meeting room. Animals
like cows and goats live inside
dependencies (If the owner is wealthy
enough). This next fact is very sad for
us children. We have to take out the
trash.

The Colonist’s Town

At night, if you have to go to the bathroom you pull out the chamber pot from
under your bed and go. Then we, the children pack it up and throw it into the
yard! Also, we have a lot of work here in town. There are the craftspeople
including, a Silversmith, a Blacksmith, a Cooper, a Miller, a Wheelwright, a
Woodworker, a Farrier, and a Town crier, but I’ll get into those jobs a bit later if
you’re staying. Also there are shops in town. One shop is an apothecary. It sells
tobacco, spices, and candy. I’ll see you soon!

Colonial Town VS Towns Today

● Streets unpaved ● Governor is the
● Many buildings leader of the state

made from brick ● Larger shops and
● Not too many big buildings

buildings ● Garbage trucks
● The Governor is the take away the
garbage
leader of the colony
● People met in ● Meet in our
homes
taverns
● The towns are ● Streets paved
● Larger towns
smaller
● People threw

garbage out on the
streets

A Colonial Household

Welcome to my home! The houses here usually are made of brick, log, or stone. We really
like to use brick because it is easy to make. Oh, and there are no windows in some houses!
In those houses the only light comes from the fireplaces and candles. But we have windows
now. Also back then it was all one big room. We also have simple chairs and tables to eat at.
We have to get our water from a well. To get the water to and from, we use a tool that is
used to carry the big buckets of water. The tool is called a shoulder yoke. The shoulder
yoke is a wooden tool that you put on your shoulders to carry two buckets of water. You
put the buckets on the prongs that stick out. The cellar in the house stores fruits and
vegetables for later use. If you are wealthy (which we are not) you would have a big house
and a smaller house behind called a dependence. A dependence is a small house behind the
main house to store animals and things like that. Also in town the slaves get houses too.
But they’re not nearly as nice as the regular houses that we have. The little houses have no
windows and have no glass, and are super small. The plantation owner has a gigantic
house! It‘s the biggest house in the world! There are all these different houses like the
kitchen house, the spinning house, the weaving house, the sewing house, the dye house, the
ice house, the carriage house, the spring house, the well house, the dairy house, and the
steak house. See you soon!

I’m Hungry! A Colonial Kitchen

Hi. Hungry? Most food is cooked in the
main room’s fireplace. A pot is hung on
something over the fireplace. colonists
use the pot to make meat, stew and
veggies. They also make pudding out of
sugar and eggs. colonists have to be
careful of their long clothes so they
don’t catch on fire while preparing a
meal. In the ovens the colonists make
bread, cookies and pastries. Men hunt
animals such as squirrels and rabbits to
use for meals. The kids have a job of
fishing to get a meal too. In Virginia,
the kitchens were sometimes outdoors.
People are afraid to drink water from
the rivers. People that drink the river
water get sick, so we get it from a well.

I’m Hungry

Other than drinking water, we drink milk, cherry and blueberry juice, and apple cider. Also
the colonists drink from metal or leather mugs. People eat at a table in the dining room.
the kitchen space is very small. My friend, Bartholomew has to sleep in the kitchen. In the
summer it is very hot, not only from the temperature, but the cooking fire has to be going
non-stop! We don’t always eat big and glorious meals. They can be very simple and bland.
Mum uses tools like a piggin, a rolling pin and tons of others.

A Colonial Recipe: Apple Pancakes

Ingredients 1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl
except the apples
● 1 ½ (360g) chopped apples
● ½ (120g) flour 2. Stir them together until you have
● ¼ (60g) sugar a smooth mixture
● 2 eggs
● 3 tablespoons of milk 3. Stir in the chopped apples
● ½ (120g) margarine or melted 4. Pour mixture into skillet and

butter cook over medium heat
● 1 teaspoon cinnamon 5. When the bottom of the pancake
● A pinch of salt
is brown flip it. Once the other
side is brown serve it hot

WARNING: parental supervision
required.

CoJloobnsial Silversmith

Blacksmith Housewright

Farrier Colonial
Jobs
Woodworker

Cooper Shingle Maker

Wheelwright

Ready For Work! Forge
Anvil
Hi, it’s Edward again! Say want to learn
about the colonial jobs? I’ll tell you!
Some people in the town have multiple
jobs. A job that is very important to us is
the Blacksmith. The Blacksmith makes
nails, ball peen hammers, iron kettles,
hoe heads and about anything metal.
There are tools that the Blacksmith uses
like an anvil. The anvil has a little hole to
make nails and a curved horn-like thing
to make curved things. The anvil is made
in Europe, and shipped to the colonies
because most fireplaces in the colonies
are too tiny. Another thing that the
Blacksmith uses is a forge. More tools
the Blacksmith uses are things like a
lantern and bellows.

Ready For Work!

There are also woodworkers. There are many different types of woodworkers. One
woodworker is the Wheelwright. He makes the wheels. The Shingle Maker makes
shingles. The Miller makes flour. The Housewright makes houses. The Cooper
makes barrels and buckets. They used all types of different tools like a peeling
iron, a shaving horse, a froe, a drawknife, a wheel hub, a mallet, and a lath. The
Farrier, my dad makes horseshoes and attaches them to the horses. We have
everyday jobs as well. The women have the jobs of cooking, caring for the young,
doing laundry, preparing food, knitting, gardening, making candles, and hauling
buckets of water. The men have different jobs like working outdoors for a long
time, clearing land, planting crops, cutting trees, tending animals, putting up
fences, building barns, and working at trades. There's the tour but I better
poste-haste. The Farrier’s calling!

Let’s Get Men’s Women’s
Dressed Clothing Clothing

Hello it‘s Ed again! My clothes are Jackboot, Snuff Calash, Wig,
loose and dirty. Say, you better learn Box, Gloves, Neckerchief,
how we dress so you look alike. Here Tricorn Hat, Wig, Gown, Stay, Shift,
I’ll tell you everything. The farmers, Breeches, Stock, Fan, Mobcap, Hat,
servants, and housewives wear Walking Stick, Nosegays, Pocket
cheap fabric that is loose and Cravat, Suit Coat, Hoop, Modest
comfortable. Wealthy colonists like Waist Coat, Piece, Petticoat,
Francis wear fancy clothes to impress Stockings, Choker, Jacket
people. The girls have to wear very Solitaire, Queue,
stiff clothes so they can't bend down Pocket Watch,
and work. The girls wear a ton of Handkerchief
layers! Here are some lists of all the
different types of clothing!

School Time!

Good morrow! How do you fare? Today I am
walking to school.Would you care to join me?
Hazzah! It's the school house! I’d better hurry!
The school house is one room and not very
comfortable. This is my New England primer. It's
my only schoolbook. I also have a hornbook. It
has the uppercase letters, the lowercase letters,
letter vowel sounds and a hymn. I wouldn’t want
to be Degroy, Giles, and Elias. Degroy has the
dunce cap, Giles is a bitefinger baby and Elias
has had a birch branch stuck up his nose. Oh,no!
Molly has forgot her wood. She will be cold,
because she has to sit the farthest away from the
fire. I’m only in second grade so I sit in the
middle-ish.

School Time!

The younger sit in the front, and the older sit
in the back. My dad had to pay for me to go
to school. Us boys learn more than the girls.
They don’t need to know as much I guess. Oh
it's time to write! We have to get out our
birch bark and coal lump. It's not ideal but
we deal with it. There are some older bigger
people in our class like Ann. Oh and my pop
told me about the old teacher who had too
much corn so he made the kids sell it to
others to get something that he would like!
Well that's all for know. I better hit the hay.
Goodnight!

Fun and Games ● Card games
colonist games ● Hoops
● Quiots
Hello. I’m playing some games American Indian ● Nine pins
with my friends, Dorothy and games ● Jumprope
James. We’re going to a party! ● Leapfrog
We’re gonna play some cards, ● Foot races
we’re gonna listen to folk songs, ● Swirly-gig
we’re gonna dance, and oh Ellen's
fruit cake is the best! We're gonna ● Foot race
play a prank on Oscar and say at ● Swimming race
the end “April Fools! I can't wait to ● Kick the ball
get there!” ● Hopscotch
● Hide and seek
● Snake
● Lacrosse

A Child's Day Boy’s chores Girl’s chores

Oh, hello again. You caught me ● Work long hours ● Laundry
during my chores. Here I’ll tell outside ● Tended children
you about some chores and how ● Prepared and
us children live. The girls help do ● Cut trees to chop and
housework. They help cook and use for firewood preserved food
churn butter. Other than the ● Worked in the
regular chores we help as ● Feed the animals
apprentices if we aren’t at ● Mend fences gardens
school. Slave children like Isaac ● Clear land for crops ● Knitted
helped the wealthy owner. We ● Plant crops ● Mended clothes
also have some time to play. My ● Help build homes ● Made candles
favorite game is the swirly-gig.
You spin it and it looks really
cool. There are also quoits and
hoops to play with.

Traveling Time! Ways the Colonists travel

Hello. I've told you about the ● Ship
town and all the things but ● Foot
travel. I’ll tell you about it. The ● Boat
main things that people use to ● Horses
travel on are stagecoaches and ● Stagecoach
foot. And maybe horses too. ● Carriage
One time old Dirk walked 40 ● Wagon
miles in 20 hours! The dirt
road can only fit one carriage.
Oh and people use boats too.

The U.S.A.

The colonies were growing as more

Europeans were arriving in the

colonies. Then the French and Indian

War started. The British won, but the

damage was super expensive. So King

George taxed the colonists on stamps

for papers, then the sugar then the tea.

People t0ok sides. There were the

Patriots, The Neutrals and the

Loyalists. Then the Revolutionary War

began. The leaders of the colonies

joined in the First Continental

Congress. They wrote the Declaration

of Independence. Then the Thirteen

Click for Colonial video!Colonies were free and were called the

United States of America.

Click for another Video!

Glossary

Apothecary- a shop that sells candy, medicine, and tobacco
Apprentices- a helper to a higher ranked person
Chamber pot - a pot that colonists go to the bathroom in at night
colonists- a person that lives in a newly found land area owned by another country
Philadelphia - in Pennsylvania,one of the busiest cities and very historic
Tobacco - used in cigars and cigarettes
Slave- a person that is the property of another and is forced to work for them

Bibliography

McGovern, Ann, and June Otani. --If You Lived in Colonial Times. Scholastic,
2005.
Classroom, Capstone. WHAT IF YOU LIVED IN COLONIAL AMERICA?
CAPSTONE CLASSROOM, 2013.

Isaacs, Sally Senzell. Life in a Colonial Town. Heinemann Library, 2001.

Kalman, Bobbie. A Visual Dictionary of a Colonial Community. Crabtree Pub. Co.,
2008.

Raum, Elizabeth. Scoop on Clothes, Homes, and Daily Life in Colonial America.
Capstone Press, 2017.

Back to the beginning!