Colonial Children

Colonization was detrimental to not only the physical bodies of the Native Americans, but to their minds as well. The shift in indigenous education was a destructive one; Western education completely overtook the indigenous education that had thrived for generations. Instead of allowing education to benefit both indigenous and European peoples, it was used as a tool to destroy indigenous culture. When the settlers from Europe and Spain first came to the Americas, “indigenous men and women articulated their petitions for more educational spaces” (Díaz 60). The attempt to share educational spaces was continuously rejected by the settlers in an attempt to spur assimilation instead of cooperation.

The origins of the abuse, neglect, and mistreatment of children stems from the way children have been viewed throughout history. Dating back to the some of the earliest times in society, children have typically been viewed as property of their parents, with no real individual rights of their own.

During Colonial Times, women were not permitted to get an education because they were only relegated to learning domestic skills. As time went by, women were slowly allowed to attend school but were once again limited to the subjects they were able to learn and they were only taught certain hours of the day. Over time, many cities did not have enough money to build two schools, so both boys and girls attended the same schools. As Myra and David Sadker wrote, “Entering by two separate doors, boys and girls went directly to their assigned single-sex area. Sometimes they went to different floors, or boys went to one side of the building and girls to the other. Frequently the girls were taught by women and the boys by men, so they continued to learn in their own sex-segregated worlds” (Sadker 343). Many critics thought that having both girls and boys attend school would have

In the daily life of children, they had many things to do. The boys would often work in the fields with their fathers, while girls worked in the house with their mothers. For entertainment they would play games or read books, while today we for entertainment we use our phones, computers, T.V and movies. They would also be an apprentice to learn valuable skills and trades so that they could use them when they were of working age and could have a job of their own to earn money. While today children will not usually be an apprentice because we have a better education from school on skills we need. In colonial times, children often were not able to get an education unless they were wealthy. All children today have access to school and an education, which is very different from colonial times. For those reasons, childhood has changed a lot since colonial times. .

After marriage, the husband was considered lord and master of the family. But not all the women were meek and submissive. By the 1700's, the woman’s status had rapidly improved in colonial America. A wife and child made as much as a man did. Although women did not have equality with men, their status greatly improved from their status in Europe. A woman’s station in life was determined by the position of their husbands or fathers. The women of the poorest families, compiled to work in the fields, stood at the bottom of the social ladder. One of the surest signs of the accomplishments a family had made, was the exemption of their women from the fields. Before 1740, girls were trained in household crafts and the practical arts of family management. But afterwards they began to study subjects that required reading and studying such subjects as grammer and arithmetic. The women of the upper classes occupied themselves mainly with planning the work of the home and with supervising the domestic servants. Along with these tasks the women also baked, nursed, and sewed. But there were many social restrictions placed on the women of that time. One such restriction was that a wife, in absence of her husband, was not allowed to lodge men even if they were close relatives. For

     The ordinary colonial child, boy or girl, from ages six to eight would attend what was called a “Dame School.” There the children learned the alphabet, the basics of reading, some prayers, and a few basic arithmetic skills. Although learning to read was considered important, learning to write was not. The only aid in learning at

American settler colonialism is no different than the colonialism in South Africa, Australia and Algeria because the similarities between them: indigenous populations were depleted, indigenous resistances arose, and colonizing culture religion becomes the dominant culture. Indigenous population was depleted in two way: through human involvement and also by biological diseases. Biological diseases killed the vast majority of Indians in the 16 century.

Articles written during a specific period gives the future population an idea of the issues present during that time. Before the United States became independent, woman education was limited to the skill needed to be a good wife and proper mother. Particularly, upper-class woman were the only ones that had the resources to gain an education. Most middle and lower class focus primarily on the education of their males. European education influence Colonial America’s educational system. Since there weren’t any establish convents schools in the colonies, tutors were primarily hired and later on schools were incorporated. During the first years of schooling, new England girls went to a coed school called “dame school”. In the dame school, girls were thought to knit and sew. Many girls got the chance to go to the town school. However, some town school in new England prohibited girls from attending. In the south, girls got the

In the mid 1600’s, the first law passed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony mandated that children start learning the fundamental of education; learn basic reading and writing by reading the bible and the town’s laws. It was believed that for the success and evolution of the world and specifically their colony, children needed to be educated and knowledgeable. Furthermore, to strengthen the educational foundation that was forming and with some resistance from parents, a law was passed in 1647 commissioning the towns create and maintain public schools.

As young girls, most women learned how to work around the house, which they most likely learned from their mother. Few women throughout the colonies had a proper education, as some couldn’t even read or write. But, because women worked in their household, these skills were not necessary. Due to the amount of tasks that needed to be accomplished, women worked very hard. Some of their chores included sewing clothes, cooking, baking, making sure the house is kept clean and the list goes on.

In the 18th century, life in the English colonies had begun to calm down a little bit. European territories still continued to expand, but many colonists settled down for a more domestic life. The original towns bloomed into cities, especially around the ports. The colonial civilizations developed into a safer and more comfortable environment. Men got jobs and earned a living, children went to school, and wives cooked and cleaned the house. Much of colonial life was similar to the English lifestyle they left behind. However, there were multiple aspects to the colonial life that set it apart from its English counterpart. The life of the average settler experienced politics, education, and even daily life that could only be found in America.

In the documentary “The Children Who Built Victorian Britain” by BBC, talks about the children of the industrial revolution, it shows the jobs they had, where these children came from, their motivation and the progression of laws against child labor. Before the industrial revolution people used to manufactures their goods in their homes using simple machines, but in the late 1700’s this shifted drastically in Britain. They started to implement new ideas of modernization using industries to manufacture goods at a larger scale. The steam engine, iron and textile industries were one of the many industries that played a key role to improve economy, transportation and living conditions in the late 1700’s. Without the industrial revolution we wouldn’t have the technology that we have nowadays, but the industrial revolution also brought a dark chapter for history, the exploitation of children.

The discovery of New England, a place considered to be fertile, perfect in climate, and overall fascinating, obtained the captivation and interest of many beings, causing migration to this new land to spark. Nevertheless, the fascination that soon-arrived colonists had and the want to acquire new colonists, numerous beings exaggerated, lied, and chose only to report selective pieces of information, causing many to be misinformed. Several incoming colonists believed, that they would be free of inconveniences as they would have access to a year-round warm climate, and fertile soil. However, upon arrival, this information proved to be false, as a result, many newcomers to New England suffered and often died due to their ignorance.

Traditionally in the eighteenth century, women had little effect over colonial affairs. Women of that time had spent their years working at home as farm wives. Traditionally in the colonial times girls learned their gender roles from the examples of their mothers, and by the time the girls were thirteen, they were expected to help their mothers in all tasks of the adult women. The tasks of women included taking care of the young children, buying and preparing food, directing the activities of indentured servants or slaves, and doing all the other household chores. Mothers were also often the primary spiritual instructors in the home. It was very difficult and exhausting, but some middle class and wealthy women had servants who would help them. But it changed temporarily during 1770s when women across Boston agreed to boycott, and as it is stated in article 5-7 that without them the boycott against the Townshend duties would fail. American women, ordinarily excluded from public affairs, became important to the nonimportation movement by making homespun cloth. “This surge in domestic

Throughout the colonial period education was limited to both men and women, but was even more limited to women. There was a gap in education between males and females for education. Males were more likely to go to school than females due to the facts that you had to pay for schooling. There was also the fact a woman 's education depended on their race, class, and location.