The pioneers of a fledgling America had to be strong to survive. Everything required manual labor and had to be done from scratch. Most people were farmers. Others were blacksmiths, teachers, preachers or hired hands. Life on the farm required a lot of hard work and family cooperation. Everyone had their job to do, including the children.
The farm family usually had a large amount of acreage (80 acres or more) with a water source and room for growing grains and raising farm animals. Chickens and pigs were kept . Eggs were collected and when animal meat was needed, the chicken or pig was killed and processed. Most meats were smoked or salted to preserve them. Horses were needed for transportation and an ox was used to pull a plow.
The land was made ready for growing wheat or corn. A vegetable garden was kept and fruit and nut trees were planted. All food was collected, processed and stored. Wheat was threshed and a grinder was used to grind the wheat to make flour. Vegetables and fruits were canned and other vegetables such as potatoes might be stored in a root cellar. A scythe was used to cut the wheat but as technology improved, tractors were used cut the wheat.
A barn was built to house the animals during cold weather. Inside the home, a wood burning stove was used to cook the food and a fireplace was used to warm the house. Plenty of wood was needed to heat the home over the winter. In the summer, cooking was perhaps done outside. In the winter, ice blocks were cut out of frozen lakes and sold to ice houses.
Cloth was purchased to make clothes and quilts. Yarn was used to knit or crochet other clothing items. Washing clothes was done by using a washing board and then ringing out the wet clothing. The wet clothing was hung on a clothesline to dry, even in the winter. An outhouse was used for the bathroom and bathing was not done often.
There was no electricity and kerosene lamps were used for light. Guns were used for protection and hunting. Medicine was primitive and babies were born with the help of a midwife. Trade was used as well. Many people died young if they caught the flu or got an infection.
Money was needed to purchase the farm land and pay small property taxes. A school teacher was hired by a community to teach in a one room school house. Most of the time, everyone worked to keep the farm going and the family fed and clothed. If there was some time for entertainment, it was spent going to church on Sunday and maybe a picnic in a park or cemetery afterwords. A county fair was also a popular event.
Reading was done for leisure and learning. Writing to friends and family through letters or postcards was the form of long distance communication. Eventually the telephone and phonograph were invented and movie projectors followed. Entertainment choices increased. Technology helped decrease the need for hard labor on the family farm and corporations began to take over the job of farming and meat production.
There are a few family farms left in America, but most people are now dependent on a finding a job to survive and provide for a family. Even though life on a farm was hard, the independence it allowed for, is unmatched today. The farmer was also at mercy of the fruition of his crop and a bad year could spell disaster for the farm family. Now days, the price of land is expensive and the population has increased making it almost too hard for everyone to live on a family farm. Perhaps, Americans will find a new way to provide for themselves in the future without being so dependent on the economy and the availability of a job.
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