1. Life in the Colonies
Chapter 4

2. I. Life on the Farm Responsibilities Living Conditions
1. Clearing the land, tending the crops
2. Feeding the animals
3. Chores for everyday needs
Living Conditions
Single large room with a chimney
a) Cook, eat and sleep in the same room
b) Children sleep in attic or loft
c) Add rooms as family grows

3. II. Life in the City Layout
1. The heart of the city was the waterfront
2. Marketplaces beyond the docks. Stores lines the streets.
Atmosphere
1. Loud and bustling lifestyle
2. Smelly and Dirty.
Safety
Dirty. Open sewers.
2. Homes close together.
3. Fires frequent from torches and candles.

4. III. Rights of the Colonists
Started with the Magna Carta
“ Great Charter”- Power of the monarch limited.
2. King not above the law.
3. Citizens have rights.
English Bill of Rights
Power belonged to Parliament.
2. Bill or a list of rights was created.
3. Choose the people who set their laws/taxes

5. IV. Crime & Punishment Serious Crimes (Punished by death)
1. Murder, treason, piracy
2. Puritans added “denying the truth of god.
Lesser Crimes
1. Drunkenness, breaking the Sabbath.
2. Short jail terms or locked in the stocks.
Ideas of Right and Wrong
1. Puritans-Blue Laws= Sunday laws
2.Puritans looking for signs of Satan.

6. V. Class Differences Upper Class 1.Money not social class
2.Nicer clothing.
Middle Class
1. Farmers and Artisans
2. Had enough property to vote.
Lower Class
Farmhands and other workers. Wage earners. Do not own property.
Servants & Slaves
1. Indentured Servants a third of the population in NE, one half of the middle colonies.
2. Slave- African Americans

7. VI. Life for African Americans
Atlantic Slave Trade
1. Slaves came from West Africa
2. Slaves traded for cloth, guns, and
rum.
3. Brutal trip- Nightmarish
4. Many Colonial Merchants grew rich.
Without Hope
Slave Master’s demanded hard work
2. Most worked in fields, some were nurses, carpenters, blacksmiths drivers, servants, gardeners and midwives.

9. VII. Religion Puritan Church Services
Required to attend worship on Sundays.
2.” Captains of the Watch” made sure they attended
3. Services held in town meeting halls-Assigned seating for wealthy
4. Services lasted as long as 5 hours
First Great Awakening
1730s – a religious movement known as the Great Awakening swept through the Colonies
2. Believed people had lost faith, “power of godliness was missing”
3. Traveling preachers holding “revival meeting” Huge crowds
4.Spread the idea that people were equal in the eyes of god.
5. Encouraged liberty equality and resistance to authority.
6. Paved the way for the American Revolution

10. The Great Awakening

11. VIII. Education Southern Colonies
1. Families would get together and hire a teacher. (Spread Out)
2. Wealthy planter hires tutors for young children, older children sent to boarding schools
Middle Colonies
1. Each religious group educated children separately and differently
2. Church school were created or home schooled.
New England
Towns required to provide public school
Town with 50+ families -
Towns with 100+ families -
Parents asked to contribute a) b)
School c)

12. IX. Colonial Families Marriage
Most men and women were married in early to mid-20’s. Indentured servants were not allowed to marry until freed.
2. Men outnumbered women
3.Life as a wife and mother often proved to be harder than life as an indentured servant.
Large Families
1. Colonial families were generally large.(7-10 kids)
2. Children were productive members of the family
3. Death rate for children was 50% before adulthood
4. Adults who died often remarried creating larger families.
5. Families cared for one another as there was no government assistance.

13. X. Leisure Bees and Frolics Toys and Sports
Chopping bee – Clear trees off land
House and barn raising – Framing a home and lifting walls
Toys and Sports
Children – Dolls, marbles, and tops. Stoolball
Adults – Lawn bowling, tick-tack, trock.
Southern Colonies – Fox hunting, horse racing, cock fighting, and card games(Not Puritans)

14. XI. Food Corn Meat Fruit Vegetables 24/7
1. Mush
2. Corn Cakes
Meat
1. Deer, Rabbits, and Birds
2. Raised Pigs, cattle, and chickens
3. Meat was salted, smoked or pickled to keep from rotting.
Fruit
New England & Middle Colonies – Apple’s, huckleberries, blackberries, and blueberries
Southern Colonies - Peaches
Vegetables
1. Native pumpkins, squash, beans ,peas, and sweet potatoes
2. Root Vegetables, parsnips, turnips, carrots, and onions.
24/7
1. Stew was cooked 24/7 and was the main meal of the day. (12-3)