By: Matthew McCauley

TEXT EVIDENCEMY THINKING  “My Mother got up, fetched a plate from the rack, and filled it with stew from the iron pot on the fire. (page 11, paragraph 1)  In the time period, they didn’t have stoves. They used a pot and put it above a fire for cooking. I research a website called Colonial Williamsburg, and it said that they used a fire for cooking, heat, and light. I also found out that they used iron pots.

TEXTUAL EVIDENCEMY THINKING  “I climbed up, not bothering to take up a light.” (page 20, paragraph 1)  In the time period, they didn’t have electricity, only a candle. I researched a website called Colonial Williamsburg, and it said that they used candles for light. If they didn’t have light, then they couldn’t work.

TEXT EVIDENCEMY THINKING  “ I was always pretty tired by the time I went to bed, with all the chores I had around the tavern every day,…” (page 20, paragraph 1)  Taverns were referenced many times in the book. In the time period, they had taverns that were used as a hotel and a bar combined. I researched a website called History of Redding, and it said that in the main level, there are small rooms and one large room. There were taprooms used to serve beer and cider. Taverns were a gathering place in the community.

TEXT EVIDENCEMY THINKING  “About five steps down I could see into the taproom.” (page 21, paragraph 11)  In the time period, in the taverns they had taprooms. They were like bars. I researched a website called History of Redding and it said that taprooms were used to serve beer and cider. Taprooms are like bars.

TEXT EVIDENCEMY THINKING  “ …a lot of water to come up from the well…”. (page 31, paragraph 1)  In the time period, they had wells instead of pipes in their houses. Wells are where they get their water. I researched a book called American Revolution, and it said that houses had no running water and everyone got water from wells and streams.

TEXT EVIDENCEMY THINKING  “Sunday’s church service seemed specially important…”“We’re required to go, Mother” (page 118, paragraph 1)  In the time period, religion was a very important thing to them. I researched a website called Social Studies for Kids, and it said that most people went to church regularly.

TEXT EVIDENCEMY THINKING  “ They might hang me for a deserter if they found out”. (page 41, paragraph 4)  In the time period, they would have hung a person for doing something really bad. I researched a website called Colonial Williamsburg and it said that people were often hung as a punishment.

TEXT EVIDENCEMY THINKING  “Going over we’d have a few pigs in the wagon; coming back we’d carry the things we bought in it.” (page 58, paragraph 2)  In the time period,they used to travel long distances by wagon. I researched a book called Daily Life, and it said that carriages also known as wagons were used to travel.

TEXT EVIDENCEMY THINKING  “One night we would spend with those cousins of mine I’d never met.” (page 58, paragraph 2)  In the time period, people didn’t travel a lot. They also didn’t have a telephone so you couldn’t talk to close friends or relatives. In the book called Daily Life, it said that people didn’t travel very much due the difficulty of travel. Horses were used for traveling longer distances, and it took time to travel these distances. Therefore, traveling distances to see relatives took too much time.

TEXT EVIDENCEMY THINKING  “We sat in the wagon, drank some beer and ate some biscuits.” (page 73, paragraph 2)  In the time period, kids could drink beer or rum. I researched a website called Colonial Williamsburg, and it said that they thought that alcohol could cure the sick. There wasn’t a drinking age limit.