Living in Poverty

Yet Surviving in America

1620-1621 – In Massachusetts, the Plymouth settlers spent most of their first winter on board the Mayflower while they cleared the land and built shelters. The following winter, the Pilgrims were able to live on land, but it was under extremely primitive conditions. Many were sick and all were hungry. Nearly one-quarter of them died before a ship from England brought fresh supplies. They relied heavily on their faith and spent much time in prayer. Eventually, with the help of an English speaking warrior named Squanto and the Wampanoag Chief, Massasoit, the colonists learned how to live in the wilderness.

By the 1700s small cities and towns were established. The life expectancy in the 1700s was 35 years old., influenced by the many infant deaths and mothers dying in childbirth. But for those who survived, 50 years old was the average life expectancy. It was necessary for all members of the family to work and work hard. The women raised the children and small animals, and made many of the clothes the family wore. She washed clothes by hand, preserved food and meat by brining, freezing, drying and smoking. They ate boiled potatoes, cabbage, wild game. Often the food was all cooked in a cast iron pot in the fireplace to make a soup. Raw vegetables, apples and eggs were kept in cold storage in cellars, while corn and beans were dried, green beans, cabbage and herbs were salted. Berries were made into jam. Butter was slightly salted and placed into lightly salted cold water.

Men dug wells for clean, fresh water. Men took down acres of trees, sawing by hand, for building houses and barns and for heat and cooking. They tilled the land, planted crops, took care of large animals, horses and cows, hunted deer, rabbits and pheasant for food, cut and stacked firewood. There was no modern medicine. People were treated with bleeding. Many died of the Flu, the Plague, Rheumatic Fever, Smallpox.