|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
b) Yes
As a young pioneer girl, you would have had to schedule your schooling around the harvest and planting seasons. Sometimes because of the heavy workload at home, children might not start school until they were in their teens. But what you lacked in "book learning" was more than made up for in your ability to be self-reliant, resourceful, and strong. Like other children, you looked forward to special occasions that marked the seasons. What special occasions would you have celebrated? Holidays were always a special time in every frontier household. The one event that everyone looked forward to was the Fourth of July. In many frontier communities it was the one time of year when an entire community celebrated. The day’s events included political speeches, a band concert or a parade, a dance, and a picnic lunch. In the meantime, there were games and contests for children and adults alike. After dark, of course, there were plenty of fireworks to light up the night sky. For many frontier children, these Fourth of July events were among some of the most memorable events of their lives! Make a list of your household chores. How many of these use machines or appliances to help you? Now make a list of the kinds of chores that pioneer children had to do. Compare the list. In what ways are your chores the same as those of pioneer children? In what ways do they differ? Do you think you would have liked to live on the frontier? Why or why not? |
||||
| Select another nineteenth-century boy or girl and see how you would survive a day in their life. | |||||
|
|
|
|
||
|
African- American boy
(ca.1865) |
Native American boy
(ca.1855) |
Irish immigrant boy
(ca.1850) |
Upper-class girl
(ca.1875) |
||