An Overview of Colonial Life

Jennifer MacPhee

What is your life like today?

• How do you communicate with…– Your friends? – Your family? – Relatives who live far away?

What is your life like today?

What are some things you do on a daily basis? Where do you go most days?

What chores do you have at home? What do you do in your free time?

Other things to consider…

• Where do you get your food? Your clothes? • How do you get ready in the morning?

Life was VERY different in Colonial Times!

• There were NO: – Cell phones, computers, telephones– Lights, indoor plumbing (bathrooms, sinks)– Grocery stores, clothing stores, drugstores– Cars, trains, buses– Many people didn’t have horses (or wagons)

The 13 ColoniesNew HampshireMassachusettsRhode IslandConnecticutNew YorkPennsylvaniaNew JerseyDelawareMarylandVirginiaNorth CarolinaSouth CarolinaGeorgia

So, What was Colonial Life like?

• Food• Clothing• Jobs• School• Daily Life• ReligionWhile there were similarities between all the colonies, there

were regional differences.

Food: Where did it come from? How did they get their food?

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/13coloniesfood.htm

Clothing

• Describe what colonial clothing was like.

http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/activities/dressup/index.html

Jobs

• What kind of jobs did the colonists have?

http://www.ehow.com/about_4566439_jobs-during-colonial-times.html

School

• What were schools like in colonial times?

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/13coloniesschool.htm

Daily Life

• What was daily life like?

http://www.ssdsbergen.org/Colonial/dailylife.htm

Religion

• What was religion like in colonial times?

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/13colonieschurch.htm

Become an “Expert”

• Remember- read carefully, think about what you have read, summarize in your notes.

• Be able to explain to your group what you have learned using your website and notes.

• When you are finished, think about the following: How were colonial times different from today? Are there any ways they are the same?

Report to your Group

• Take turns sharing with your group what you have learned.

• Your group members will write down what they learn from your explanation.

• When you are finished sharing- Find connections between what each of your learned.

What have we learned?

• What was communication like in colonial times?

• What did a colonial family do on most days? • Where did food and clothing come from? • Are there any ways colonial times were the

same as today?

Further your Understanding

• How were the climates different in the 13 colonies?

• How would this have affected farming and food?

• How would this affect what people lived in each region?