1. Everyday Life in Colonial Virginia Interactive Notes VS. 4e

2. 1. Everyday life was different for whites, slaves, and free African Americans in colonial times. How much wealth a person had and the color of their skin made a difference in how they lived and what they had.

5. There were no supermarkets to provide food, and no stores to shop for clothes and shoes. People in colonial Virginia depended on different kinds of resources to produce the goods and services they needed.

7. Good : Goods are items that can be seen or touched. They are wants and needs that people have that they can get. Service: A service is something that’s provided by other people.

10. 2. Food choices in colonial Virginia were limited. Meals were made of local produce and meats. Simply getting food took up most of the day, and there wasn’t a lot to choose from. People had to eat what was grown near their homes and what was in season. In the spring, there was a plenty of fish. In the summer, fruits were available from trees. Autumn was harvest time, and people were busy preserving and storing vegetables and foods to last them through the winter.

16. Work growing, gathering, storing, and making food began early in the morning and lasted until it was too dark to see. This went on all year long. There was very little time for rest or play.

18. In one sentence, describe the food choices of colonial Virginia and how meals were made.

19. Draw pictures showing examples of food choices in colonial Virginia (and how hard it was to make a meal!)

20. 3. Most people in colonial Virginia lived in one-room houses with dirt floors. Some people (wealthier farmers) lived in large houses.

26. Owning plantations made a few Virginians very rich. They lived in grand houses with many servants or slaves.

29. Poor white Virginians, however, made a living from their land. They lived in small, one-room homes with dirt floors.

31. Most enslaved African Americans had no rights and worked tobacco, other crops, and livestock. Most lived in wooden shacks with dirt floors and housed more than one family.

35. Not all African Americans were enslaved. Although freedom is clearly better than a life in chains, free African Americans unfortunately were rarely treated the same as white colonists. Some owned small businesses or land, but were still denied most rights. They could not vote or testify in court against white people. They were also likely to live in small, one-room homes, but typically in more urban centers (meaning, bigger cities with more people).

37. How did most people live in colonial Virginia (in what type of home)?

38. Draw a picture of what most houses looked like on the outside/inside.

39. 4. Households usually made their own clothes in colonial Virginia. Most clothing was made of cotton, wool, and/or leather. Not only was it difficult to find and make clothing, but how a person dressed was very important. People could not just wear whatever they wanted. How a person dressed would tell others their place in society (whether they were rich or poor, basically!).

41. Slaves often worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week and were only given tiny rations of food and clothing. Their clothing was often hand- me-downs, worn either by their owners or other slaves. They rarely had a change of clothing.

43. Free African Americans had a couple changes of clothing, but wore them until they could no longer be mended or patched. They wore the same clothing for all occasions—church, work, social gatherings.

45. Much like free African Americans, poor white farmers had a couple changes of clothing, but wore them until they couldn’t be mended or patched anymore. They wore the same clothing for most occasions.

48. Wealthy farmers and plantation owners (also called the gentry) dressed very differently from others in colonial Virginia. There were not as many of these people, and they dressed fashionably to show off their social status. They did not perform physical labor. They wore many layers of clothing and spent much of their time attending social events.

51. How did most households get their clothing?