Chapter 3: Daily Life of the Colonies: Housekeeping, Children, and Sex

Sunday, February 16, 2014 4:30 PM "My Bason of Water Frozen on the Hearth" o Houses were extremely primitive. o Settlers in parts of Pennsylvania actually lived in caves. o Windows consisted of oiled paper. o Light came from the fire place since candles were expensive This made it difficult to see and do tasks. e.g. singed books Did not sufficiently warm a household e.g. Harriet Beecher Stowe-- frozen dishtowel o Fireplaces were huge- big enough to walk around in Children fell into the flames, and embers rolled and burned down houses. o Furniture looked unattractive and was uncomfortable in hot weather and too high from the

floor Live entire life without feeling back support Churches had benches. Homes had stools. There was only one real chair which was reserved for the head of household. Anne Hutchison usually had the best seat. o Wives helped farmers on the field. Goal was to be in charge of her own domestic establishment o Domestic duties were harder than outdoor labor Endless cycles of cooking, cleaning up, and then getting ready for the next meal. o Mary Cooper Long Island housewife Lived on a farm Pre-Revolutionary war Constantly complained in the diary she wrote in. o Colonists were stoics--repressed emotions o Even wealthy women had hard tasks In frontier towns, wives of the leading citizens were responsible for sheltering the rest of the community when Indians threatened. Visitors called "garrison crowds" Elizabeth Saltonstall Haverill, Massachusetts Entertained 60 guests for months during the Indian alerts of 1694 "For She Has Been and Is A Good Wife To Me." o The house was the one place where a colonial housewife could be in charge. Elizabeth Buffum Chace Women engaged in making candles, soaps, butter and cheese, spinning, weaving, dyeing and of course all the knitting and sewing and dressmaking and tailoring and shoemaking and probably all the millinery (hat making). o Making cloth was one of the most time consuming and critical Fabric was in short supply

Women were required to spin three pounds of thread a year. Tax on women Colonial clothes were made from wool or flax. Clothes from flax was an excruciating process Wool was easier. Spinning was foisted off on daughters or servants In a full day of spinning women could walk over twenty miles. o Cooking was another duty they found particularly burdensome Repetitive and difficult to do o Seasonal duties Autumn: Women made apple butter and cider. Sausages, soap . Colder weather: Women made candles and brewed beer Spring: planted in kitchen gardens, made cheese, butters. Martha Ballard Maine midwife, grew beans, cabbage, lettuce, parsnips, carrots, turnips, beets, cucumbers, radishes, onions, garlic, peppers, squash, peas, muskmelon, watermelon, pumpkins, and a variety of herbs for cooking and medicinal purposes. o Wives bartered and traded with each other for goods. They also helped each other perform chores. Daughters were lent out to help a neighbor o Birth of girls was not unwelcomed. Women needed daughters to help in the home o Older women were advisers, counselors, and judges of the younger. e.g. Elizabeth Perkins and Agnes Ewens testifying on behalf of a younger women o Wife and husband relationship was viewed as an equal partnership "Women Choose Rather to Have A Thing Done Well Than Have it Often" o Cotton Mather urged Puritan women to take their model Herpine, who eagerly served her ailing husband. o New England women were much less submissive to the man of the house than Mather wanted. 1/3 of accused spouse beaters were women Woman's property was under husband's control. Husband had legal sway of children Hardworking woman could pull a less-than-ambitious spouse Divorce was rarely an option Courts sometimes allowed separation o Husbands' obligations to their wives included being affectionate, a good provider, and a good example. Women were frail creatures susceptible to temptation o Puritans disapproved of wife beating Some men still harshly beat their wives. Argued in court that, "she was his servant and his slave" and cases were thrown out. o It was against the law for a couple to have sex before they were married. If baby was due before nine months of being married, the couple would be charged with fornication and punished with 9 lashes on the back or a steep fine Over time more couples started having premarital sex more often Puritans defined adultery as sex between a married woman and any man other than her husband. A married man who strayed was only guilty of fornication

At least three women were hanged Mary Latham of Boston admitted to having sex with 12 men. o Women were expected to enjoy sex Believed orgasm led to conception o Lustiness was believed to be a woman's greatest failing o Conception between the colonists Many couples believed that when they made love, both men and women each emitted a "seed" that when combined conception occurred. Some believed that a women's sac contained seven sac, three on each side and one in the center. The right produced boys, and the left girls, and the one in the center were hermaphrodites. Women were advised to lie on whichever side of they wanted the sex of the child to be. "This Might Possibly be the Last Trial of This Sort" o Childbearing dominated the lives early female settlers. o The average married by the time they were 20 and had seven children Nursed for 12-18 months. Nursing suppresses ovulation.-- Rough form of birth control o Mortality rates differed from the North and South Due to malaria, only half of children born in Chesapeake (the South) died before adulthood. In New England the mortality rate was lower. o People in New England has large families On average 10 or more children o There was an increase of family size in the south Charlestown reported most households had 10 or 12 kids Southern woman became obsessed with having babies Announced pregnancies in newspapers o Childbirth Was a communal affair People celebrated with food Mothers would squat over a low open seated stool or sit in another woman's lap Other lactating mothers gave their milk to the newborn because a new mother's milk was believed to be impure During difficult childbirths, women drank from lactating women Umbilical cords were cut long for boys--big penis. Short for girls, otherwise she would be immodest o Midwives Critical resource in colonial communities Some lived in rent free houses Some would receive large salaries o 1/5 of women died during childbirth in New England-- much higher in the south Cotton Mather advised pregnant woman to prepare for death Wealthy women had linens that were to be used on their beds after birth, or become their shroud. o Women's tasks did not cease because of pregnancy. Still lifted 40lb pots on and off the fire Worked in fields o Women traveled when pregnant but stayed close to home when the baby arrived.

Women weaned their child with in its first year. Mother and daughters could be pregnant at the same time "If I Only Knit My Brow She Will Cry" o Children died because of accidents The Puritans regarded such incidents as God's punishment for the sin of the parents o Children died because of infectious diseases A strain of diphtheria claimed half of the children in some New England towns o Mothers waited to bond with their child till they were sure it would survive childhood. o Child care doesnt seem to have ranked as a true domestic duty Smaller children were often tended by other people and not their moms Babies were referred to by "it" o Followed the British practices when it came to their child Bound newborn Wrapped them against a board to straighten their backs Tight wrapping lowered metabolism, so that it cried less o Parents were strict with their children o Children were given big responsibilities at small ages Susan Blunt was kept a house for a week when she was 10. o Girls didnt receive much schools Boy could attend Harvard at 10 or 12 Learned basic writing and arithmetic and in some rare instances, music and dancing. Learned letters well enough to read the Bible Attended "Dames School" Close to day care centers than actual learning institutions Were run my women. The only female teachers in America during the preRevolutionary period. Women were paid the value of education imparted by a female Most women in the South were totally illiterate in the 17th century Only 1 in 3 women could write their names Wealthier girls were prepared for a good marriage. Learning was regarded as a defect in attractive woman "Not Having Been Wett All Over Att Once, For 28 Years Past" o Cleanliness was not a high priority No one took baths-- no bathrooms Whatever bathing was done occurred from a basin People scrubbed their faces with cold water Elizabeth Drinker Fully bath for the first time in 28 years with a shower box her husband built The soap made was used for washing clothes, not people. Dirty hair was concealed under a linen cap Had horrible teeth No idea what was used a sanitary napkins during menstruation Servants wore a skirt of bunting which they wore next to the skin and used till it was old Middle class Those living along the coast may have used sponges May have emulated the Indians by using moss or grass or leaves Most likely made a makeshift diaper out of homespun linen

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Scanty diets probably restricted the amount of bleeding during menstruation. Not as sensitive to smells or the sight of dirt. Yards were filled with trash People were more likely to use the bushes to go to the bathroom than an outhouse Laundry was done once a month-- never on the frontier Too arduous to do and very time consuming Baby hygiene Diapers were left to dry by the fire then put back on Dogs were encouraged to lick the baby clean Wet diapers were a wholesome device for hardening the baby's constitution Some babies were toilet trained from birth Used suppositories to train baby to have a bowel movement at regular times People littered on the streets Sprinkled vinegar for smell No system of garbage disposal Chamber pots were thrown on the street "Strangers Are Sought After With Greediness" o The south was too big to create a community o People came over unannounced o Church was more of a social event Women arrived on time, wealthy men arrived later to show off their clothes o Poorer people came together for communal events like barn raising and husking frolics that might attract thirty to fifty people. o Southern women weren't expected to make butter or spinning. Spent time grinding corn o Wealthier families directed their girls into fine needlepoint and dance lessons. Carving became a major domestic art-- girls learned from masters o People started dying less. o Ration between men and women evened out o More men lived to see their children grow up o The window of opportunity for independent women was beginning to close