Work in Plimouth Colony

After many years in Plimouth Colony, the Pilgrims, who were originally farmers, began to run out of farm land as they passed down their land to their sons with each new generation. Besides that, the soil of Plimouth was thin and rocky. The Pilgrim settlers had to finally turn to crafts and trading to make a living. They began to send their sons at the age of 13 to live with relatives or friends in a larger settlement to learn a trade. They were apprenticed to carpenters, blacksmiths, tanners, coopers, millwrights, cobblers, millers, printers, silversmiths, postriders, and others. Some girls were "bound out" to wealthy families to be seamstresses and cooks.

These trades made life easier for the settlers and as time went on the craftspeople became specialized artisans.

Pilgrim Clothing

The Pilgrim's idea of being respectful included wearing simple clothing. Men wore long white cotton shirts and breeches. Breeches were pants that were worn just below the knee. The men also wore long woolen stockings that were held up by garters tied above the knee. A doublet, which was a jacket, was worn over the cotton shirt. Men wore felt hats and leather shoes.

Women had long cotton shirts, too. They wore skirts with three petticoats under their skirts and and apron over the skirt. Women also wore a jacket called a waistcoat. Since clothing did not have pockets, women wore cloth pouches tied to their waists. They also wore bonnets called coifs.

The children dressed like their parents after they were seven years old. Before that age, boys and girls dressed alike. They wore long cotton gowns with ties at the shoulders so the parents could grab ahold of those ties to keep the children from getting away. Children went barefoot in the summer and wore leather shoes in the winter. In the 1600's, there were no right or left shoes. Both shoes were made to be worn on either foot.

Palisade

After the wooden homes and meetinghouse were built, the Pilgrims built a palisade. A plaisade is a strong fence that was built around the village. This fence was built of split logs and did not use nails. Nails were very expensive so the Pilgrims had to drill holes in the logs to hold and join parts of the fence together. Pilgrims also built platforms in strategic places along the fence line to allow themselves to see over the fence and to keep themselves out of harm's way while defending their village.

Meetinghouse

After the permanent homes were built in the spring, the Pilgrims built the meetinghouse. The meetinghouse was a two-story wooden building that was used as a place of worship (it had a pulpit and benches) and as a gathering place for meetings. When the men arrived for meetings some of them sat in special chairs that had a triangular seat. These chairs made it possible for the men to sit comfortably with their swords still in their sheaths and at the same time not cause any obstruction.

The meetinghouse also served as a fortification. It was built on a hill with the second floor housing the cannon of the Mayflower. The cannon was placed on wheels so it could readily be moved to any of the wooden windows that slid open horizontally. The second floor was a terrific vantage point since one could see for great distances. Two sliding windows faced the ocean and the others faced north, south, and west.

One rule in the agreement (Mayflower Compact) that the Pilgrims had made before they disembarked the Mayflower stated that everyone in the village had to attend church services every Sunday. Consequently, each Sunday the villagers were summoned to worship at the meetinghouse by the beat of a drum. The militia led the march to the meetinghouse, followed by the governor, the preacher, and finally the villagers. Services lasted all day long. A dinner was served between the morning and afternoon services.

Daily Chores

Families had gardens. The very first gardens that the Pilgrims planted were not very successful. They had brought seeds from England to plant, but the rocky soil resulted in a meager harvest until Samoset and Squanto, two Native Americans, showed them how to plant. Both Native Americans also helped the newcomers befriend Chief Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag Indian tribe in the area.

The farmers of Plimouth Colony raised cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and chicken. (Some of these early breeds can still be found in today's Plimouth Plantation.) The entire family had to help. They awoke at 4 A.M. and worked until they went to bed at 8 P.M. Children did not have a lot of time to play. Pilgrim parents wanted to raise honest and hardworking children.

Mothers taught their daughters to make all the family clothing, how to make soap and candles, how to churn butter and make cheese, how to salt and smoke meats, how to take care of the farm animals, how to take care of the garden, and most importantly, how to care for younger children.

Fathers taught their sons how to plant crops, chop wood, build houses and barns, how to build furniture, how to make and fix tools, and how to fix fences. When the sons were of an age to marry, fathers gave them some of the farm land.

Besides learning all these skills from their parents, Pilgrim children also had to pick berries, carry water, clean the copper pots with salt and vinegar, feed the animals, help to hang the laundry over fences to dry, and baby-sit younger siblings.

Inside a Pilgrim's Home

The inside of a Pilgrim home was very simple. The house had one large room called a keeping room. Here the family ate, worked, and slept. There was a large fireplace used for cooking and heating. For these very reasons the fireplace was one of the most important features of the house. The floor of the home might be dirt, stone or wood, depending upon what the family could afford. They didn't have much furniture. The furniture usually consisted of a table where the family ate their meals and perhaps one chair at first. Chairs at the dinner table were reserved for adults until there were enough chairs for everyone. Normally children had to eat standing up at the dinner table. When chairs were not in use, they were often hung up on the wall to make more room.

Pilgrims ate from metal plates and used ceramic vessels for drinking or storing their ink for writing letters. Copper pots or cauldrons were used to heat water to make tea or soup, wash clothes and dishes, and to heat water for baths.

Children slept on mattresses filled with straw, feathers, or bits of wool. One of the first chores the children did after they were dressed was to roll up and store their mattresses. Parents had a real bed that was off the floor. It had a curtain around it for privacy. Babies slept in cradles between the parents' bed and the fireplace.

Pilgrim Homes in the New World

When the Pilgrims landed, a group of men found a good place to live, but there were no homes. Some Pilgrims lived on the ship until they could build a home. Some of the first homes were dugouts. A dugout was a home that was built into the side of a hill. It was made of sticks and mud. Others built wetus as their temporary homes. A wetu was a Native American home also known as a wigwam. The wetu was made from bark and sticks. The Pilgrims were extremely cold that first winter because they had to spend it on the ship or in the other temporary shelters. It wasn't until spring that they were able to build their permanent homes. These wooden structures at first had a thatched roof then later one made of wooden shingles. If a family was wealthy, they used nails to assemble their door since nails were expensive and hard to come by in the village. Families also planted a garden with the seeds they brought from England. But the soil was rocky so the harvest was meager.