If they wanted to use warm or hot water, it had to be heated on the stove or fire and then poured into the wash tub. The woman in the picture is rubbing the wet, soapy clothes up and down across a bumpy scrub board.
Most women in the colonies had many duties. They cared for children. They prepared the food, mended and washed the clothes, and did the dishes. They cleaned the house and tended the garden. Some of them milked a cow or goat. And then, if that were not enough, some women had and worked at a trade.
As an example, Abigail Adams started her day early and went until late. She would begin at four in the morning and go until 10 at night. After 10 was when she might find time to write to her husband John. When John was away, which was often, she ran the house and the farm.
Abigail’s letters are helpful to know what life was like for women in colonial times. She was very busy and had many chores and duties. In one of her letters to John we learn about a time when she struggled with some serious sickness. In early September of 1775 John was away again with his work. Their son Isaac was sick with a bad case of stomach aches. He had been sick since his father had had to go away. Then Abigail caught whatever their boy had. She was so sick for three days she was ready to send for John to come home. Then Suzy and Tommy, two of the other children, got it. Next was Patty. The sickness was so bad that it had spread to the whole region. There were 63 people that died of sickness in nearby towns. Abigail said, “Our House is an hospital in every part- and what with my own weakness and distress of mind for my family I have been unhappy enough.” She was sick for some time.
It is interesting to learn how colonial women would wash the clothes. They would do the wash by hand in a tub and hang it out to dry. To get the dirt out a scrub board was used.
If they wanted to use warm or hot water, it had to be heated on the stove or fire and then poured into the wash tub. The woman in the picture is rubbing the wet, soapy clothes up and down across a bumpy scrub board.
Click or tap on each detail to see the examples.
A needle was used to sew and stitch cloth together.
The thimble was used when sewing with a needle to protect the fingers and the thumb from getting poked.
Knitting was another way of making clothing items. Long needles were used to stitch yarn together.
The spinning wheel was a common thing the colonists had in their homes. It was used to pull and draw fibers together into a heavy thread called yarn.
A spindle was another tool to make yarn. Yarn would be wound around the spindle. This is called spooling the yarn or thread.
Cooking was done over a fire or a wood-burning stove. Heavy iron pots were used for much of the cooking. They would be placed right over the fire.
Women in colonial times did not have the same rights as men. Under English, and also colonial law, women were not equal. Women could not run for political office. They could not vote. Once married, a husband had control of his wife’s property and of her. A woman could not make legal agreements. She could not go to court for herself. She also could not decide what would go in her will.
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/13-colonies-colonial-life-economics-politics.html;
Northern Colonies- Mayflower Compact, governments- http://www.ushistory.org/us/3b.as; The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Colonial America by Dale Taylor, p. 40, Rhode Island p. 49;
Middle Colonies- New Jersey government- The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Colonial America by Dale Taylor, p. 55; Pennsylvania colony (Freedoms);
The Extraordinary Suzy Wright: A Colonial Woman on the Frontier by Teri Kanefield, p. 9;
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/colonialtimes.htm;
Farmers- The Farmer by Wil Mara;
My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams by Margaret A. Hogan and C. James Taylor; Abigail struggles with illness - her, her family, and the communities. (September 1775, pp. 74 and 75.)
Women- The Extraordinary Suzy Wright: A Colonial Woman on the Frontier by Teri Kanefield, p. 14 (rights);
http://www.history.org/almanack/life/trades/traderural.cfm;
http://www.history.org/almanack/life/trades/traderural2.cfm;
http://www.ushistory.org/us/5e.asp;
http://www.usahistory.info/colonial/customs.html;
http://www.history.org/History/teaching/dayInTheLife/webactivities/dress/dress.cfm (Colonial dress);
Two Sets of clothes- The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Colonial America by Dale Taylor pp. 254)
http://www.williamsburgkids.com/people/;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeCXLiwWqKw (Making linen from flax);
http://www.ushistory.org/us/5a.asp;
http://www.ushistory.org/us/5b.asp;
http://www.history.org/kids/visitUs/colonialPeople/slave.cfm;
http://www.ushistory.org/us/1a.asp;
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/perspectives_daily.html#;
Abigail Adams by Kem Kapp Sawyer; DK Publishing 2009;
A Museum of Early American Tools by Eric Sloane;
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcolonial.html;
www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/00165897ch01.pdf- Population statistics;
Wool and Flax- The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Colonial America by Dale Taylor pp. 252-253;
My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams by Margaret A. Hogan and C. James Taylor p. 162
Spinning Wheel - A Family Flight Around Home-1884 by Edward and Susan Hale- Library of Congress- Wikimedia Commons pd 14597964180.jpg;
Clothing-trunk-chair- Colonial Massachusetts by Sarah E Dawes;
Churn by Pearson-Scott-Foresman- Wikimedia Commons;
Wash tub and scrub board -zoomed and edited- by Popular Graphic Arts for Champion American soap powder LCCN2005694421.tif from the Library of Congress- Wikimedia Commons;
Clothes line by Johnny-automatic- Openclipart.org- Openclipart.org;
Needle and Thread by Inkscape- Openclipart.org pd;
Basic Thimble by J4p4n- Openclipart .org;
Knitting grandmother by Johnny Automatic- Openclipart.org;
Spinning Wheel by US federal government through Wikimedia Commons;
Drop Spindle-300px by glitch- Openclipart.org;
Kettle of cast iron - Marmite de Fer through Missouri History Museum- Wikimedia Commons;
Woman Playing Clavichord by Pearson-Scott-Foresman- Wikimedia Commons;
ATOS- 5.0
Flesch-Kincaid Level- 4.79
SMOG Index- 7.42