American Life in the 1800s

American Life in the 1800sPopulation• 1800 = 5.3 million (1 mil of those were slaves)• 1850 = 23 million (3.2 slaves)• 2014 = 313 million

Immigrants• In those 50 years, 18 million European immigrants moved to the United States for

land. • Lots of German and Irish - 250,000 Scotch Irish came as indentured servants• By 1850, Irish are 43% of the immigrant population

• New York had more Irish born citizens than Dublin, Ireland!!! That’s the capital of Ireland!

• Lots of anti Irish sentiments

What do the age brackets tell you about American society in the 1800s?What were the most populated states?Where did slaves live?

The North gradually ended slavery through the 1840s.

American Life in the 1800s80% of American families lived on farms. Cities were very sophisticated.

No mainstream cameras yet.

American Life in the 1800s• At 6-years-old, children would start working to help the family.• Education was done mostly at home although some communities would join

together to hire a teacher to instruct their children. • Teachers were generally 14 to 15-year-old women who would work in a one room

school house for all students no matter the age. • Students did their work with chalk and slate

Education in the 1800s• Schools focused on the 3 Rs

• Reading, wRiting, and ‘Rithmatic • Noah Webster

• Father of American Scholarship and Education• Wrote spelling books• First dictionary in 1828

Jobs in the 1800s

• Farmer• Blacksmith• Factory Worker

What was cool in 1800s?• Names

• Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah and Ann• John, William, James, and George

• Hobbies• Reading – Now reading for fun was becoming mainstream.• Banjo, fiddle, dancing, chess, checkers, cock fighting, barn raisings, husking bees

• Fur Trade 1816 – 1850

What was cool in 1800s?• Books

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen• The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Laura Ingalls Wilder• 1867 – 1957• American author who wrote about her experiences growing up during this time

period in The Little House on the Prairie.• At 14-years-old she became a teacher• At 18, she married 28-year-old Almanzo Wilder

Little House on the Prairie