Aspects Of Colonial Life

Colonial life was very much unlike our lives today. During colonial life philosophies and what people did were very different from today. Some of which they did has had influence on our own daily lives. This meant the colonies had influence and taught us lessons on the daily life for women, daily life of children, slavery/racism and government.

Whether by land or by sea, eighteenth century colonial travel was arduous, expensive, and many times dangerous. Because of this, few people traveled very far from their homes. Transportation has changed dramatically since the late 1700’s. It was during this time that Colonial America was budding as a new country. This was before airplanes, which appeared in the very early stages of the 1900’s. Cars showed up about the same time, so rewind about 200 plus years and we’re back in colonial America. It wasn’t civilized like it is today. The dirt roads were bumpy, grimy, and when the rains came, they were mud baths. So how did people during this time get around? Often, they didn’t. Not many people could afford the cost of travel back then. Daily American Colonial Life was extremely harsh for the first settlers and colonists. They were faced with a new country, unknown territory and no friends, relatives or neighbors to help them “In those days, it was fairly expensive to travel. Because of this, generally only government officials, merchants, and planters took the risk (Constitution Facts).” Women were supposed to stay home and look after the children while the husband went off to do business. America was still a budding country, so there were not as many cities as there are now and they were more spread out. If the man wanted to travel, it would require several hours, or even several days to ride on horseback. Often the husband wouldn’t return for a couple of days, and when he

Throughout the colonies, the environment was a key factor that played a huge role in their society. The environment was a stepping stone that helped shaped the colonies and provided many opportunities for them. While the social, political, and economic factors were important to US History, the environment had an impact on the colonies because of the Grass Revolution, Jamestown, and the Columbian Exchange.

Colonists: About 250,000 Spanish emigrants populated the newly established cities; they saw the New World as an opportunity for success. As the natives died off Africans and their children replaced them. As mixing production rose due to Spanish women scarcely traveling to the new world, the government created a hierarchy known as castas to keep social order.

Colonization DBQ Although America is based on democratic values, and early colonies demonstrated democratic features, certain aspects of colonial life were not democratic. Virginia’s House of Burgesses was a legislature that was comprised of representatives chosen by the people, an example of a representative democracy (Doc. 6). This was the first democratic government to be established in America. In the house of Burgesses, a group of representatives were elected by the people to represent them and make decisions.

The American Colonies for the past 20 years have become accustomed to living a thousand miles from their sovereign, the King of England and Parliament. This separation from “monarchial” control and power has created a tough and independent society, which although they believe themselves to be subjects of the crown, has molded an experience and lifestyle unlike any found within the “Crown’s” realm. Subsequently, these differences in lifestyles bond both Mother Country and colony on a path that veers from the typical empirical rule that has ruled the known world for the last century.

During the years starting from the colonial period which was from 1492 to 1763 through the end of the civil war North experienced significant changes in many aspects of its society. One of these included advancements in transportation, technology and even the economic fields experienced significant changes. These changes would help to shape different areas of America is a variety of ways.

Daily life during the colonial American days was were rough and began the marking period for America. The colonial period set the stage for what we have today in American history such as what we grow and where we grow them. Anything from the clothing made to the foods we grow has been discovered during the colonial period. The start of the colonial period stood for rough livelihood by 1774 the ability to sustain life had been reached and reflects some parts of the modern world today. As for the Virginia Colony of 1775 there were millions of people living in the colonies and there were about 500,000 living in Virginia. Based off of those numbers we can see that Virginia was a popular place to be, Virginia was not full of wealthy people such as planters and merchants but there were a small significant amount that stood at two percent lived in cities such as Richmond, Williamsburg, and Fredericksburg.

With farmers receiving land at a low price for a large amount and with Pennsylvania's climate, it allowed them to thrive in the New World. Having a successful farm with successful crops allowed them to be involved in trade. Trade was the growth of Philadelphia and opened new things to the country. It was the same commercial function as other colonial ports. Trade opened them to earn extra money for their family and their farm. Farmers served as a purpose in the colonies. They supplied the people with food and the colonies with trade and money. Farmers see how beneficial Pennsylvania was and how it is considered “the best poor man’s

Colonial Americans faced many hardships as they came to the new land and established the new country. These hardships were explained and told in the writings of John smith, Phillis Wheatley, and Anne Bradstreet. As these writers were primary sources, meaning they experienced the suffering and privation first hand, you can have a better understanding of what it was like for them, or the people during that era. These colonists had suffered a great amount. Either these colonists did not know how to hunt for game, they did not know how to farm correctly, they were slaves, or had troubles with many other things. Which had led to many of these colonists’ having to suffer in many different ways, such as from the lack of proper nutrition, being diseased, or from the vicious beatings of their owners. Many colonist’s lost their lives, starved, and did not know how to live when they found or were coming to the new land. There were many different types of hardships that the people of that era endured. Each writer had their own rough experience they spoke about in their writings.

Colonial women in America suffered considerable oppression by society. Life in colonial America was difficult. Women had to be resilient, brave, hardworking and above all else, subservient to her husband. It was tradition and the law. Most certainly, this tradition was the reason some women captured by Native Indians, chose to stay within Native societies. Or when returned to their homes, chose return to them.

Imagine going to a new land and settling there not knowing what to do. Well English colonist experience this but didn’t go well for them. In 1607 - 1611 English settlers sailed up to the coast of Virginia to find a new trade route. They ended up in a land that they named Jamestown but out of a sudden they started to die. Many colonist died for three main problems. Theses problems were issues with water, colonist lacked in survival skills, and poor relationship with Native American.

Imagine coming to a new world ,scared, lonely, and confused, only to find everyone in the colony is dying. There is no hope, no food, no water, no friends. This is what life was like in the Jamestown settlement around 1607-1612. Many young English (around 17-35 year-olds) came to this settlement in hopes to pay off debt and own land, but instead most of them did not live long. Life in the colony was very hard. They had little supplies and had to work harder than they ever had in their life. For mulitple reasons, many Jamestown colonists died.

The Massachusetts colony, otherwise known as the ‘Massachusetts Bay colony’ was originally settled by Puritans in 1630. They were plagued by the religious persecutions of King Charles I and the Church of England. Weary from this dogged torment, they left England under the leadership of John Winthrop. These original colonists quickly established many small towns in the name of high religious ideals and strict societal rules. They also planted churches, spread Puritanism and religiously educated the masses, as these were some of their goals. A utopian society that other colonies looked upon with high regards was the ultimate goal.

The colonial period in the United States all started when people starting immigrating to Boston in the 1630s. With high articulation of Puritan cultural ideas, the New England colonies have been regarded as the center of early American literature. In class we only talked about a few of the writing throughout the period but in this paper, I am going to tell you about the colonial period as a whole.