1. Colonial Society
Chapter 4
Section 2

2. The Family in Colonial Times
Many people lived with their extended families
Extended family- a family that includes
Parents and children
Grandparents
Aunts
Uncles
Cousins………and others
Living on a farm
Living in the city

3. On a Farm Most colonists lived on farms Many responsibilities
Plant
Cultivate (foster the growth of)
Harvest crops
Fences to mend
Animals to tend
Wood to chop
Farmhouses made of wood/few rooms
Sitting: stools and benches
Sleeping: on planks
Winter time was very cold

4. In a Town If you were single, it was easier to live in a town.
Families were still important

5. Men Controlled family’s income Controlled family’s property
Others expected to accept his authority
Voters
Office holders

6. Women Marriage chosen by parents Usually had many children
Many domestic responsibilities (household)
Worked outside as well
Little or no role in public life
Could not hold office or vote

7. Young People Required to work at age 7
Games- marbles, hopscotch, leapfrog, jump rope
Toys- handmade at home
Boys: work fields
Girls: labored beside mothers- learning to run a house
If family was poor: went to work as servant for another family
Some boys worked as apprentices- someone who learns a trade by working for someone in that trade for a certain period of time

8. Social Classes Gentry- upper class of colonial society
Wealthy planters
merchants
ministers
royal officials
successful lawyers
prosperous artisans (goldsmiths)
Felt that serving the community was their duty and right

9. The Middle Class Also called “the middling sort”
Neither rich nor extremely poor
Small planters
Independent farmers
Artisans
Could vote
A few held office
Mostly white but some African

10. Indentured Servants
Lower on colonial scale, just above enslaved Africans
Signed a contract to work from 4 to 10 years in the colonies for anyone who would pay for his or her ocean passage to the Americas
Few if any rights
Bound to obey their masters
At end of term received clothes, tools, 50 acres of land
About 1 in 10 became prosperous landowners
1 in 10 became artisans

11. Free African Americans
Never a large portion of colonial society
Allowed to own property
Most not allowed to vote or sit on juries