Zack
First Sergeant
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2017
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
Most soldiers who fought during the Civil War were farmers. For those living in the North or on small farms without slaves in the South, what was there daily life like before the war? Did women ever work in the fields? How did farm life change during the war? Would small family farms be incorporated into the war machine or was it only bigger, commercialized farms? Who worked on those big, commercial farms? To what extent were farms industrializing in the 1850s? How many animals did they usually have? Who did what chores? How did the long hours of farm labor affect "dating" or "courtship" habits? Also - do cows have to give birth yearly in order to produce milk or is it a matter of one birth and then daily milking?
Really, I'm just looking for good resources on what day-to-day life was like on a 19th Century farm. Obviously it varies place to place and family to family.
This website lays out a daily routine that lines up with that described in ACROSS FIVE APRILS (obviously neither period nor a history book).
Wake up around 5:30am. Mother rekindles the fire while children milk cows, get water, and retrieve eggs. Father harnesses the animals and/or chops wood and does maintenance. After breakfast the men worked in the fields with the women did chores and prepped lunch/dinner. On some days one or more family members would go into town for supplies. Then a quick lunch/dinner and back to work. Finally, "supper" as a family and then reading, writing, studying the bible, playing, and whatever else before extinguishing the fires and going to bed.
Really, I'm just looking for good resources on what day-to-day life was like on a 19th Century farm. Obviously it varies place to place and family to family.
This website lays out a daily routine that lines up with that described in ACROSS FIVE APRILS (obviously neither period nor a history book).
Wake up around 5:30am. Mother rekindles the fire while children milk cows, get water, and retrieve eggs. Father harnesses the animals and/or chops wood and does maintenance. After breakfast the men worked in the fields with the women did chores and prepped lunch/dinner. On some days one or more family members would go into town for supplies. Then a quick lunch/dinner and back to work. Finally, "supper" as a family and then reading, writing, studying the bible, playing, and whatever else before extinguishing the fires and going to bed.