Colonial Society A Large Colonial Family

The Family in Colonial Times Many colonists lived with their extended families Most colonists lived on a farm There were few cities, and mostly single people or business men worked there A Colonial Farm

Roles of Men in Colonial Society The husband and father controlled a family’s income and property Represented their families as voters and officeholders Held jobs like carpenters, joiners, wheelwrights, coopers, butchers, tanners, shoemakers

Roles of Women in Colonial Society Expected to marry men chosen by their parents A women’s money became her husbands Raised the children Domestic responsibilities (cooking, laundry, made clothes, cared for the garden, milked the cows, tended the chickens) On the frontier, men and women’s roles blurred A Colonial Woman

Role of Young People in Colonial Society The first 7 years of a child’s life was spent playing (marbles, hopscotch, leap frog, jump rope) Boys worked with their fathers in the field, girls with their mothers in the home Boys learning trades became apprentices Colonial Children

Social Classes Much more social equality in the colonies than in Europe, but classes still emerged There were 3 social classes: – The Gentry – rich upper class (planters, merchants, ministers, royal officials, lawyers) – The Middle Class – made up of small independent farmers and artisans who could vote and few held office (poor hoped to become middle class) – Indentured Servants – signed contracts to work from 4 to 10 years as payment to voyage to America (had little to no rights)

Free African Americans Never a large portion of colonial population Could own property Could own slaves (some bought and freed family members) Most could not vote A Free Black Sailor During the American Revolution