19th+Century+Project


 * First Topic:**
 * Education**

"before I went to Mr. Hurlbut I studied about 3 hours a day. French, Arithmetic, Geography, Writing &c." Studied and had a lot of homework "Learned the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, and sometimes went on the geography, history, and English composition."
 * 1.) Homework/Subjects Taken.**

//"Most of them attended one-room district schools within walking distance of their homes. Here they learned the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic, and sometimes went on to geography, history, and English composition. School was held for ten or twelve weeks in the winter months, usually beginning after Thanksgiving."// School was held for ten or twelve weeks in the winter months. Had one-room district schools that children could walk to from their house. //**"The District School As It Was** was typical of the New England countryside. Towns were divided into several school districts, each with its own schoolhouse. Some village or wealthy farming districts had larger and better equipped schoolhouses, but most resembled the building that Burton described. The quality of schoolhouses, and the competence of school teachers, varied greatly from district to district even within the same town."// Children had to carry all of their books to school, and they barely recieved any homework because of the loads of housework they have to do at home. (They did all their work during school.) Children only read books at home if their parents could afford them, otherwise they would only be able to read books at school. http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?DocID=1077
 * 2.) The schoolhouses:**

//"Teachers did not need college degrees or credentials, and were hired by neighborhood committees. Some were knowledgeable, while others barely knew their subjects. Some were skillful instructors, while others relied on harsh corporal punishments to keep order in the classroom."//** Used rattans very long and elastic to whip naughty kids with, and use rulers. [|**http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?DocID=146*******]
 * 3.) Discipline:

Teachers held oral tests and quizzes,(the students had to speak in front of the whole room about a topic, and they were taught religion and read out of bibles for most of the day.Students had oral stand-up quizzes. Also, children read religious books during school, and the first book that was ever read in school was the bible. Most of the time was dedicated to reading, memorizing, and reciting passages from it.
 * 4.) Teachers:**

In the 21st century, kids have just about everything to make for a successful future. We read a variety of different books, and all of us have books that we can read at home, because most parents have good paying jobs, and recieve a lot more money then the people who lived in the 19th century had. We do not have to carry our books to school. We have backpacks. Everybody has a backpack unless they want to break their backs by holding those heavy books all day long!! Our tests and quizzes are on paper, not oral. Also, children in the 21st century have loadfuls of homework because children do not have as much chores and the children had from the 21st century!!!!
 * Comparing&Contrasting:**

I think it is better now, because most of the children of today have very good educations, and our distrct and parents make sure that we have the best possible for us. We also have advantages, because our school years are longer, so we learn more, and most of the children back then had to miss a lot of school to stay home and work if there was a lot of work to do, so they missed school. even though we do have more homework then they did, they made up for it by doing so much more labor than sitting in a chair for an hour or so doing homework, than continual stress and tiredness.
 * So.....was it better then, or now?**


 * Second topic: Chores

1.) Harvesting/working in the fields- "**1st Clear and quite pleasant, picked and carted in 3 lodes of Corn 3d Clear and pleasant, Picked and Carted 5 lodes of Corn, old sort 4th Clear and warm, picked and Carted 2 lodes of Corn, old sort, from plain and fenced on plain—also picked and Carted 2 lodes from middle pasture, Dutton kind—" In the 19th century, children had to mow the lawn(cross-plowed), plant pumpkin seeds, dug/ planted potatoes, shelled seed corn, worked in the cider houses, reaped(by harvesting with a sickle.) Shelled corn/ Girls weeded garden. (Ages six to seven.) Milked cows Boys worked in the barn. http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?DocID=1160 (Primary source.) //"The pressure of work on children was greatest among poorer families, who often "hired out" their offspring to neighbors. Working for a few cents a day, boys picked stones out of fields or hauled firewood, while girls did housework and cared for children."// [|//http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?DocID=577//] //"The men finished shearing sheep."//

//"//15th Clear and pleasant, mended fence—Painted old ketchen floor" "20th Cloudy & Clear Cold squally Clouds—mended fence—Drawed logs into Logway, Phelps Sawmill" http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?DocID=1160 (primary source) Went to the sall mill to saw logs, mended/painted fences,, painted kitchen floors. //**"In the new plantations of this country, log fences are most used; as they certainly ought to be; because the wood is of little or no value…When the ground is wholly subdued, and the stumps of its original growth of trees quite rotted out, if stones can be had without carrying too far, stone walls are the fences that ought to be made. Though the cost may be greater at first than that of some other fences, they will prove to be the cheapest in the end. Building stone walls is not only the http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?DocID=2045way to clear ground of a bed incumbrance; but when the fence is made, it is certainly the best of all fences."**//
 * 2.)** **Painting/mending-**

"Thu 3 Rainy forenoon, fair towards night. I cut out two shirts for William & two for Francis. Finished making 4 shirts for myself…" http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?DocID=77// Girls:(Ages six to seven): Shelled corn, made soap Cooked, washed, sewed, and tended to the dairies, ironed, knitted "feeting", made candles , Wed. A.M. Worked about house. P.M. spun, doubled and twisted 20 knots of stocking yarn." (girls.) "19, Sat. Worked about house and began to piece a bed quilt out of two old calico gowns." [|**http://www**][|****.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?DocID=36****]
 * 3.) Housework-**
 * //"Children's work was needed in a rural economy with few labor-saving devices, and virtually all parents believed that idleness was a source of moral evil."//**

Made butter, plucked food from the garden, made peas, beans, and squash,(from home garden), plowed potatoes, sliced potatoes, made cheese, homemade cider, pork,(butchered form cow), made bread out of grain, had milk and cream(from cows), used garden for pot herbs, sallads, and roots, raised and cooked "Indian-corn." [|**http://www.osv.org/explore_learn/document_viewer.php?DocID=2045Co****]
 * 4.) (Food)Cooking:**

I would have to say that there are a lot of differences between what the children of the 19th century have to perform tasks for chores than the modern society of today's childern. Here are some differences with the appliances and tools we have today: We do not wash our clothes by hand, we have washers and dryers. I don't shell corn, milk cows, or plow potatoes. Most of us buy our food at the lcal supermarket. Some of the children in this century do live on farms and perform the tasks that thise of the 19th century had, but children today are not overburdened. Also, the vast majority of children do live or work on farms. I also do not harvest. I am not saying that people do not perform these tasks because people do, but a lot of them do so that they want to. For example, growing your own garden for wanting organic and fresh produce, or mowing the lawn because you want the yard to look pretty. Back then, you had to grow your own produce and livestock, and you had to mow and plow the lawn so you could harvest and plant, so they could eat and sell items if they owned a tavern or a store because they had to make money if they needed a specific item or tool to buy. They were very independant. Most children these days simply wash/dry dishes, do the laundry(with a machine), and clean their rooms.
 * Comparing&Contrasting:**

I would definitely say that life is better now, because most people do not have to do these overburdening tasks. They wake up, eat breakfast, go to lunch or school, come home, do homework, and watch television for the rest of the night. Not to mention that the farmers who do grow our foods and the companies that grow foods like to, and have the right to if they wanted to. First of all, most farmers inherit the family business of farming. If they didn't want to work in the companies or farms, then they could have just gone to college and receive a degree in the field that they chose. But a lot of people do because they did not go to college or find other jobs, so they have to work there, but that is because they were probably lazy in the first place, so you get what you give.
 * So....Is life better then, or now?**