Colonial Times
Most children your age have some idea of what they want to be when they grow up. In colonial times, a 10-year-old had to make decisions about what he would do for the rest of his life. If you were a 10-year-old living during those times, what do you think you would want to be when you grew up?
What are manners? What are some manners children are supposed to have today? What were colonial children’s manners supposed to be like? Do they surprise you, why? How do they compare to your manners today? Why do you think they differed?
How do we travel in the 21st century? When and why would we use these types of transportation? How do you think people in the 18th century traveled? How would their different from ours? How would it be similar? How long did traveling take in the 18th century? What would it be like to travel a long distance back then.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Manners are rules that make people polite or to give them a way to be polite. Some manners that kids should have are to be respectful to elders and listening when someone is talking to you.
In colonial times, children are supposed to be good, especially on Sunday. Everyone had to go to church. In church, you couldn’t smile or talk, otherwise you would be rapped.
The manners surprise me because they had so many useless and horrible rules, and if you broke them they had bad punishments.
I think our manners now are comparable because we both have manners that we should follow to be polite
and some manners keep you out of trouble. I think our manners differ because we aren’t as polite as before, and also our punishments are not as rough as punishments during that time.
We travel now using cars by land, using plane by air, and using boats by water. I think back then, they traveled by horseback, carriage, and walking. It took a very long time like a month or a few weeks to get to places that would take us less than a day. It was hard to travel even if you were on a ship or walking. There might have been bad weather or animals lurking around.
October 9th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
If I were living in colonial times, I would want to be a blacksmith when I grew up. I would like to be a blacksmith because blacksmiths use metal and shape them into something we can use. If there was money, the blacksmiths would be paid the most because they make the steel pots and pans. We need steel because other materials would melt or burn.
What I think manners are is a way to show respect to an elder or in a church to respect God. It was also a way to avoid getting rapped on the head. I think manners are important because manners make people feel good and respected. Manners were used everywhere.
In the colonial times, I think that manners were like, “Greetings ma’am.” or “Greetings sir.” Also, many manners were to be quiet. Table manners were for the father to sit down on a chair first, then down the line from oldest to youngest. It also went like this for bathing, father, mother and so on. They all took a bath except the baby. The baby didn’t take a bath because the water was all dirty already. The baby would get sick from bathing in that dirty water.
This surprises me a lot. It surprises me because they’re so serious about order. I think they are being too proud of themselves. What I think is that they should relax a little. We don’t need to be so serious about how we eat or bathe; we just go in any order. A manner that compares to our manners today is not talking in church to respect God.
The differences from colonial times and the 21st century are that we think lunch as a time to socialize and talk about recent activities. We aren’t so serious on how and when we take a bath. I think it is like this because entertainment wasn’t a big thing back then, they just thought about survival.
In the 21st century, we travel using cars. We use cars because cars are really fast and it can sustain a lot of weight. We use it whenever we need it to go somewhere far away. We don’t walk because we might not get there in time and it’s too far away. In colonial times, people would travel using horses. It is different than our time because instead of making gas, horses make horse dung. They had to pick up horse dung and throw it away. A way it is similar to our times is that we don’t have to walk or run. We just ride. I think it took about 2 days to go a long distance because a horse has to rest and sleep. I think that we would have had to water the horse about everyday.
October 9th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I think what I would to be an author because most of them at that time were not poor.
Manners are rules that we follow when we eat. Manners that we have today are don’t talk with your mouth full, and wipe your mouth. Children in the old days had manners like don’t talk at the table, or don’t fidget at the table. I think some of the manners they had at that time were ridiculous.
Today we travel in cars, trains, and modernized ships. In the old days, people rode horses, sleds, and carriages. Their transportation was slow. Transportation was similar because you also used wheels in those days.
October 10th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I think that I would want to be the woman of the house because they get to do a lot of things like cook with the really cool tools. They had the wafflemaker, the toaster and the churner. Plus I think that it would be kind of fun to keep the fire burning using the bellows tool to keep the fire burning.
Today kids are supposed to have good manners. For example, when you sit at the table and eat, you should chew quietly with your mouth closed and say please and thank you. In colonial times, children’s manners were when you ate at the table, you had to stand up and couldn’t talk. The only person that was allowed to sit down at the table was the man of the house. This surprised me because it is good to talk to your family, and talk about what happened during their day.
We are the same in that because they also had jobs and responsibilities just like we do. I think that their rules were different because they were stricter and more conservative than America is today.
Today we travel by cars or by buses. I think that we travel like that today because technology has improved over the last couple hundred years, and Americans got a lot lazier so someone came up with a way to travel so that it would be easier. I think that they traveled by wagons with horses attached to the wagons. Their transportation is different from ours because they didn’t use electricity to power their transportation, and we use all kinds of unnatural sources of energy to power our transportation. It took them a really long time to travel because they couldn’t just get into a car and at their destination quickly. I think that it would be a little boring traveling a long distance back then because if you are traveling for hours, you would get bored very easily.
October 10th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
If I lived in colonial times, I would want to be a blacksmith because you could make anything you need out of metal, from pots and pans to weapons of self-defense like swords and eventually guns.
Manners are rules or guidelines to help you be polite. Manners we have today are chewing with your mouth closed, eating with your fork, wiping your mouth, and not putting your elbows on the table. Manners in colonial times were not talking while you were eating, sitting on the floor and eating with your hands. These manners surprise me because all of their manners then are impolite to us now. I think table manners differed with the invention of the fork and as families got richer, they could afford to buy more chairs.
Today we use steamboats, cruise ships, cars, and airplanes. We would use these ways of transportation to go places that are long distance. People from the 18th century used horses, boats, and carriages. Their transportation was very slow. It would be long, tiring, cold and uncomfortable.
October 10th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
If I were living in colonial times, I would want to be a blacksmith because I would want to build my own things. For example, pots, pans, and other cooking things. I could also build a sword or a gun.
Manners are a good thing to have because it helps you to be polite. Some manners we have today are don’t chew with your mouth open, no elbows on the table, say “please” and “thank you,” and be considerate to everybody. We can compare their manners to ours in that there is a punishment for the manners we bread. How I think our manners differed is the punishment for breaking rules were much harsher back then.
In the 21st century we travel by car, motorized boat, and plane. Why we would use this type of transportation is it is more efficient and it can get to a place faster then a wagon with a horse. Traveling took about a day in the 18th century or sometimes they wouldn’t get to their destination because an Indian would kill them on a long ride.
October 11th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I might want to be a blacksmith because people needed pots, pans and other stuff made of metal. I would have good trade and I would be a wealthy man.
Manners are things you do that are polite. For example, you say “thank you” and “you’re welcome.” The manner you are supposed to have today is that you should have respect for your elders. Some manner you had in the colonial times are that you stand up at the table while you are eating, keeping quiet when someone is talking, and going to church. If you got caught working on a Sunday, you would get punished. Those manners surprised me because I can’t believe they stood while they ate and couldn’t talk with anybody. Now we can talk at the dinner table. What is the same is we can’t talk when the teacher is talking.
We travel by cars, airplanes, and subways. People traveled by horse in the 18th century. They would have to use energy to get where they need to go. The same thing is that they both run on something, the car runs on gas while the horse runs on food.
October 12th, 2008 at 11:23 am
If I lived in colonial times and I had to make a decision on what I have to be, I would be a blacksmith because then I could make metal swords and all kinds of things out of metal. And when you’re a blacksmith, if you’re town doesn’t have a dentist, then you get to be the dentist too.
Some of the manners we have today are no running in the house and no talking with your mouth full. But in colonial times, the rules were like no sitting when you eat or no talking at the table, pretty dumb rules, or at least dumb to me. Back then, they even had rules like no work on Sunday. I mean, that’s ridiculous.
In colonial times, the people traveled on horses, boat and on foot. Now we travel by car, train, plane and boat. There were not a lot of different ways to travel back then.
October 12th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Some table manners that we have now are that we can’t play with our food and talk with our mouth full. We also have to sit nicely at the table. Back then, the table manners for kids were that the kids couldn’t talk at the table or sit down. I don’t think that’s fair that the kids couldn’t sit at the table because they had to do so much work too, and they were tired too. That’s why they should be able to sit at the table.
October 12th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Living in colonial times was hard. You had to make your own food, feed and raise animals, plant your own crops and make your own fire. I don’t think I would like to pick any job in particular because if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t really be able to do anything about it. If I had to choose a job during those times, I would pick being a cobbler. I could design and make shoes. I would do this job because it sounds interesting and not as hard on your body as a farmer or blacksmith.
Manners are a nice/kind way of doing things. It is how you behave, your attitude, how you speak, and what you say and do. Our family uses the Bible and the Ten Commandments as our guide to create our rules on how we should behave, act, and be as a person. My mom and dad have taught us to not swear, respect people, be kind to others, treat other people as you want to be treated, say thank-you, please and your welcome. These are only a fraction of the manners that we have in our home.
The manners of the colonial children were really strict. They always had to stand while they were eating. They bathed from oldest to youngest, and there was no talking back. They had to go to church and were not allowed to do any work on Sunday. I was surprised that they had to stand up while eating, except for the dad. I didn’t really understand why they couldn’t just sit on the floor. They also used the Bible to make their rules for living, but they had more severe punishments than we do if they broke one of the rules.
Some ways we travel in the 21st century are cars, motorcycles, bikes, boats, planes, submarines, jet skis, buses, helicopters, and spaceships. We use these modes of traveling to go to places such as work, school, vacation, cruises, war, visiting the moon and diving trips. People in the 18th century traveled by carriages, horses, steamboats, ships, rowboats, canoes, running/walking or being carried by other people. Transportation was slow, took a long time, and was not very safe in colonial times. They didn’t have motors, electricity, or any of the modern technology that we have today to make traveling easier. Traveling long distance back then would be very hard, dangerous, and uncomfortable. I think it might even be scary to not be on paved roads or even a dirt road. Many times you would be guessing where you were going.
October 12th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
If I had to pick what I wanted to be when I grew up during colonial times, I would be a house mother.
Manners are like rules. They are made so you are a polite lady or gentleman. You always say “please” and “thank you,” and you don’t talk with your mouth full. We hold open the door for other people. Some of the manners the children in colonial time were expected to do was to stand at the dinner table and not talk at the dinner table. Today we are not really punished, but back then it was a big deal. They got whipped and other really bad things. I learned that when you break a rule, you get embarrassed in public. I think they differed from our times because 21st century manners are not as important, but back then it was very serious.
In the twenty-first century we travel by car, bus, train, airplane and boat. I would use these type of transportation when I need to get somewhere. Why I would use these forms of transportation is these ways are the easiest way to travel fast. It helps us to get places on time. I think that in the 18th century people traveled by horse, on foot, and in carriages. Our transportation is different from theirs because ours is run by fuel, but back then, they traveled by their resources. In the 18th century, to deliver a letter to another community took about a month. Back then, it would be very tiring to travel on foot. Even though they had some roads, they was very narrow and if you walked alone, you might get lost and never come back to your village again.
October 12th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Manners are polite behaviors that make people feel welcome. Some manners that we use today are saying please and thank you. Some manners the colonial children had were to stand up when they ate and to say “yes I want some” even when the food was not good. These manners surprise me because the colonial children had to eat food that was bad. Now we don’t have to say yes to bad food. It was different back then because they had to do more things to impress other people. What I mean is the colonial children had more rules to follow than we do now.
The transportation they had in colonial times were riding horses and wagons. The colonial people probably used horses if the roads were narrow. They would use wagons when they needed supplies. I think people traveled slowly. Now it’s different because now we have so many choices. We can fly, use cars, boats, and trains. Things today are similar because we still have horses and boats. In colonial times, it would take a day to another town, from the U.S to England it would take a couple of months. It would be difficult to travel far back then because you could catch a disease and get sick because of bad air or some wild animals.
October 12th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
If I lived in colonial times, I would be a cobbler because I could make and design shoes my own shoes.
Manners are rules that make you more polite or teach you how to be kind. Some children can’t go to places without asking their parents if they can go. Children also can’t swear because it is rude. Colonial children’s manners were supposed to be extra polite because the parents wouldn’t want their children getting punished like getting put in the stocks. It surprised me that they thought that it was a scandal to see a woman’s ankles. Today my manners aren’t as strict as those manners. I wear shorts everyday and nobody would think it’s a scandal. Back then, it was polite to let the man of the house sit in the chair but now everyone sits in the chair. Sometimes my dad gets mad for sitting in his spot but then he gets over it.
In the 21st century, we travel by car, plane, boat, train, bikes and other things. We use these ways of traveling because they get us to our destinations quicker and we don’t have to work that hard. I think people in the 18th century traveled by horse, wagon, and boat. Most of our ways of transportation are faster and sun by electricity. They are both similar to each other because they are all made from the things we have on Earth.
Back then, it took them over 2 months to get to America. I think it would be scary to travel for a long time because all you can see is blue and there might be storms. All you would want to do is go home.
October 12th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
If I lived in colonial times, I would like to be an author because most authors made lots of money by selling books that they wrote. That way, it would decrease the chances of me becoming poor.
Manners are basically rules that make you more polite. Did you know that at the dinner table, they had crazy manners like you couldn’t sit down at the table when you were eating!
One huge punishment in the colonial times was that you would get put in stocks and that’ss obviously not good at all. Their manners were very different from ours and I think that is because we now have a much easier life now compared to the colonial times. They had to be strict to survive.
In the 21st century, we can travel really fast. I would estimate that it would take about 4 hours to get from here to Maui by boat, when during the colonial times, it would take at least a day to get there with a boat!
October 12th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
If I grew up in the colonial times, I would have wanted to be a regular house mom. That way, I would just help with the chores, do the cooking and tend the fire, so it wouldn’t go out. Also I would have done the sewing, weaving, and making thread.
Manners are rules that help us be polite and considerate. Today our manners are things like “sit up straight,” “chew with your mouth closed” and “don’t talk with your mouth full.” Back in colonial times, they had rules like “stand up at the table while eating” or “no talking at the table.” I was surprised that these were the rules back then. I thought dinner was supposed to be a time to enjoy family. I think they changed the manners because they realized that it’s okay for the whole family to be able to have the same privileges in the house as the father.
In the 21st century we mostly travel by airpalane for long distance traveling and car for not as long a dictance traveling. I think that we use this sort of traveling because it’s faster than foot, horse, or bike.
October 13th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
If I were 10 years old back then, I would want to be a blacksmith. I like making things and I am good with my hands.
Using your manners in colonial times is to be polite. Being polite means to use kind words, to be nice to other people, and to help them out.
We children today use the much of the same rules. But, I am surprised that people in colonial days had to use words like miss, sir, and ma’am. Now, we do no speak like that.
Our transportation now is way more different from colonial days. We usually use cars and people back then used horses to get around. Horses do not go as fast as cars.
October 20th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
If I were 10 in colonial times, I would choose to go to college and be a blacksmith because everyone knows art is working with hands!!!!
Some of the manners back then are standing up to eat and not eating with different plates unless you are rich. When taking a bath, the father goes first, then the mom, the oldest child, the middle child, and so on.
The transportation was very different than nowadays. Back in colonial times, they used to be pulled by living animals that needed water, food, and rest. Now, all we have to do is fill the tank up with gasoline, pay for the gasoline and go!
October 26th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
If I were in colonial times and I was 10 years old, I would be a blacksmith because I love to make things with my hands. Crafting things are really cool. I would like to give people some of the things I made. But making them would take a lot of time, work, effort, and patience.
Some of the manners were that children would have to always sit up straight, chew with their mouth closed, stand while eating at the table, and no talking while at the table. I was surprised on how many manners children in colonial times had to follow. The manners they had back then and the manners we have now are really different. I can imagine how strict it was.
Today we travel by car, bus, bike, and more. I think people in the 18th century traveled by wagon, walking, and horses. Our transportation is different from the people in the 18th century because we don’t need to walk a far distance anymore unless we don’t have a car which is rare. But in colonial times, all you saw people do is walking to place to place. That’s because people in colonial times were not as advanced as we are now. It would get really tiring back then to travel a long distance.
October 27th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
If I were in colonial times I would want to be a blacksmith or a silversmith because I could then learn about the different types of metal, silver, steel and other minerals.
Manners are rules that help us behave in public and in private. One of these rules today is not to put your elbows on the table while eating. Manners back then were the same but more strict and punishable. The rules back then are really surprising because life seemed so dull back then and it must have been so boring. Our rules are different because we don’t get punished as badly and as much.
Today we use cars, trucks, jeeps and vans to get around. We use these types of transportation because we can then get to where we want faster than on animals. Back in colonial times they had to use horses and other strong, big animals. It is different now because the things we use run on electricity and oil, and the thing the people in colonial times mostly used was animal power. Back then, it took a long time to get from place to place.