How were colonial children treated?

Colonial children were viewed as miniature adults; and boys and girls were dressed alike until the age of 7. The infant^1,7 wore a long linen smock; was covered with a woolen blanket; and a wooden or wicker cradle, hooded to protect from cold draughts, much like those in which Indian babies slept, was its bed.

How were children treated in colonial times?

Children were expected to help with a share of the family's work. Boys helped their fathers and girls did chores at home. By a time a girl was four she could knit stockings! Even with all the work they did, colonial children still found time to have fun.

What was life like for a colonial child?

Kids had a lot of chores to do, so they did not have much time for playing. Even young children had jobs such as shelling corn (removing dried kernels from the cob) and carding wool to prepare it for spinning. Colonial children also learned differently than today's students.

How were kids punished in colonial times?

Corporal punishment was acceptable and expected in colonial schools. In Puritan New England, beating students was divinely sanctioned. “The rod of correction is a rule of God necessary sometimes to be used on children,” read the rules of a Massachusetts school from 1645.

How did colonial families see children?

Patriarchal control was the norm, and family and community were intertwined. Children were important to the family and to the community because economic and religious survival depended on them. It was the children who would carry on and maintain their parents' religious beliefs and values.

Life as a Child in the 18th Century

How were children viewed historically?

In the two millennia from antiquity to the 17th century, children were mostly seen as imperfect adults. Medieval works of art typically depict them as miniature grown-ups. In 1960 one of the first historians of childhood, Philippe Ariès, declared that in medieval Europe the idea of childhood did not exist.

What was school like for colonial children?

Many children were taught at home, and their schooling often centered around religion and practical skills like cooking or growing food. Children in early colonial America usually learned to read at home when they were young.

What was the worst punishment in colonial America?

One of the many gruesome punishment methods used was Flaying. While this isn't exclusive to Colonial America, it was surely a dark and terrifying punishment. Being flayed alive is one of the most painful methods of execution ever devised. Flaying is simply the process of cutting the skin off of an animal.

How were children disciplined in the 1700s?

Colonial times

Harsh punishments for minor infractions were common. Beatings and other forms of corporal punishment occurred regularly; one legislator even suggested capital punishment for children's misbehavior.

What was the most common punishment in colonial times?

People were punished for blasphemy, stealing, adultery, and even idleness. Some of the punishments included branding (often done in the case of adultery), dunking, or ear cropping. People were also placed in pillories, and whipping posts were used as well.

What age was considered an adult in the 1700s?

Although children were expected to act as an adult by the time they were 11 or 12, they may have been working from as young as 6 or 7. But legally, people were not considered adult until they were aged 21.

What chores did kids do in colonial times?

The chores children had to do were often the simplest and most boring ones. Children might have to carry wood or water, husk corn, gather berries, lead oxen, card wool, gather eggs or churn butter. When children weren't doing chores, their parents often sent them to school.

What did colonial boys do?

Colonial School

Boys were expected to be in charge of a business and manage the family's money when they grew up and needed an education in order to do so. Girls were expected to grow up to take care of the house and children, so they did not need to go to school.

Why didn't all children go to school in the colonial era?

For many, formal schooling was simply unnecessary. In the Middle Colonies there was even less government intervention. In Pennsylvania, a compulsory education law was passed in 1683, but it was never strictly enforced. Nevertheless, many schools were set up simply as a response to consumer demand.

What happened to orphans in the 1700s?

In the early 1700s it was noted that orphaned and abandoned children 'swarmed like locusts in the street,' resulting in in the establishment of workhouses and working schools. One London workhouse, opened as early as 1698, and allowed children to work by spinning wool and repairing clothes.

Did colonial children go to school?

How much education a child received depended on a person's social and family status. Families did most of the educating, and boys were favored. Educational opportunities were much sparser in the rural South. The New England Primer was the first and most popular primer designed to teach reading in the colonies.

What was the worst punishment in the workhouse?

Punishments: Punishments inflicted by the master and the board included sending people to the refractory ward, and for children, slaps with the rod; or for more serious offences inmates were summoned to the Petty Sessions and in some cases jailed for a period of time.

When did beating your child become illegal?

School corporal punishment was explicitly prohibited in 1936. In 1972, an 1891 law that gave parents some right to use corporal punishment of their children was removed from the constitution of assault in the Penal Code, which made corporal punishment of children unlawful and punishable as assault.

What were the cruelest punishments for slaves?

Punishments could include amputation, disfiguring, branding and more. Slaves could also be put to death – a penalty most often enforced during the aftermath of rebellions. And they were rarely killed quickly.

What is the cruelest punishment in the world?

The worst punishment in human history involved prisoners being locked in a small stone cell, left to die from dehydration or starvation, often accompanied by rotting corpses and flesh-eating rats.

Who had the worst punishment in history?

A fate worse than death – the extreme execution of Balthasar Gérard. The execution of Balthasar Gérard shocked and sickened people across Europe, who were no strangers to all manner of gory public justice. He was dispatched in Delft, The Netherlands, in 1584 for slaying William of Orange.

Did girls go to school in colonial times?

Both boys and girls would go to Dame School, where they would learn to read and write. However, in colonial times, most people did not believe girls needed further education. Girls learned enough reading, writing, and arithmetic to be able to study the Bible and manage family finances.

Where would wealthy children go to school in colonial times?

The wealthy colonist children, if not an apprentice, attended private schools, or they had private teachers (tutors). These students were headed for the university.

Did girls go to school in colonial America?

Secondary literature shows that young boys and girls began their education at home. Mothers were responsible for teaching their children basic skills until they were old enough to attend a local school managed by the selectmen, a dame school in a woman's private home, or a boarding school in a larger city, like Boston.