History again..?

Question

Imagine you are in an English colonists in Massachusetts in 1700. What would your occupation,famliy,feelings and fears be?

Answer 1

Well, a great deal would depend on where I was living at the time.

First of all, no matter where I lived, I would likely have been a wife and mother, my life pretty narrowly defined by those roles.

If I were the wife of a common laborer, I'd have all the drudgery of colonial housekeeping, probably in a pretty small, rented home. This would likely be in a major city, like Boston. I might have supplemented the family income by being a laundress or in some other domestic capacity.

Again, if I lived in the city, I might have been one of the middle class, married to a professional man or shopkeeper. Depending on how wealthy my husband was, I might have had a servant or two to assist me in the daily chores of cleaning and cooking. I might well have taught my children the rudiments of reading; if I were a widow, I might even keep what was called a "dame school," where neighborhood children would come to learn the basics (there was a high degree of literacy in New England, mainly because the Puritans felt that everyone needed to at least be able to read the Bible for him or herself).

A farmer's wife in the older, more settled portions would probably have charge of the dairy and poultry as well as her indoor tasks of cooking, sewing, and cleaning.

New England families were usually large, so most of my younger years would be spent in pregnancy or caring for the babies that came fairly close together, and mourning the ones that died young (infant mortality was high; few mothers were as fortunate as the poet Anne Bradstreet, who had eight children live to adulthood).

Of course, the Puritan religion would probably be central to my life. If I were a minister's wife, I'd be at the pinnacle of society.

In these settled areas, I'd probably be mostly concerned about the health and well-being of my children and husband, and also gaining material prosperity, which many considered a sign of divine favor. I might fear a fire in my town, or a drought on my farm, or an epidemic of any sort. Those would be my concerns as wife and mother; politics would probably not be a big part of my life.

Now, if I lived on the frontier, in a town like Deefield, for example, or on an outlying farm, I'd have all the above going on plus the nearly constant fear of attacks from the Indian allies of the French.

If I didn't die during the attack, I might well end up dead on the march back to Canada--those who were unable to keep up were usually tomahawked and left where they fell. If I survived the trip, I'd likely be parceled out as a slave in a Native American village, separated from the other surviving members of my family.

One thing was pretty sure, and that is that I might well have seen my smallest children killed, either just before the journey began or during the trek. The Indians were quite practical, and, in their way, merciful--if it looked as if a prisoner wouldn't be able to make it, they would simply dispatch him or her. It was practical from the captors' point of view, because the weak wouldn't slow them down. It was merciful, as well, because it was usually done as quickly as possible, particularly in the case of little ones who just couldn't keep up.

This is no more than a very brief, broad overview of New England life from the standpoint of a woman.

Answer 2

By 1700 you had a large number of tradesmen in Massachusetts and were in the third generation of Americans. My ancestor, William Anthony, had 14 children and all but two of them lived to adulthood (one wife). He was a farmer, but successful enough that he sent three of his sons back to England to be schooled. Another son was lost at sea and left him with a daughter-in-law and a grandson to raise. FOUR of his children married siblings from another family there in Massachusetts. Not unusual in those times since he and two of his brothers had married sisters from another family.

William was the grandson of John Anthonie who came to Massachusetts in 1634 as an indentured servant. He was quite wealthy when he died at the age of 86. His wife died when she was 92, but then the Wodells were known for their longevity with many of them living to be over a hundred.