When was colonial period

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How viruses shape our world. The era of greyhound racing in the U. See how people have imagined life on Mars through history. See More. A River from Canada to Asia? Lawrence River". Fighting For Freedom "Stono's Rebellion". Livingston Was Born". Sailing to Albany! The Scots and Irish tended to settle in the back country, where they cleared land and lived by hunting and subsistence farming. The southern settlements were predominantly rural. In Virginia and Maryland, the planters, supported by slave labor, held most of the political power and the best land.

At the same time, yeoman farmers, who worked smaller tracts of land, sat in popular assemblies and found their way into political office. Charleston, South Carolina, became the leading port and trading center of the South. Whereas Virginia was bound to a single crop - tobacco -, North and South Carolina also exported rice and indigo.

By the early 18th century, colonial legislatures held two significant powers: the right to vote on taxes and expenditures, and the right to initiate legislation rather than merely act on proposals of the governor. The legislatures used these rights to check the power of royal governors and to pass other measures to expand their power and influence.

In time, the center of colonial administration shifted from London to the provincial capitals. Most people worked, played, learned, and worshiped at home. A large family was necessary in colonial days to get all the work done. The father was considered the head of the household. He made all of the decisions concerning their families and earned money through farming and jobs outside the home.

Women worked in the home, raising the children, preparing the meals, sewing clothes, preserving food for the winter, scrubbing laundry, fetching water, and stoking fires.

Most children in early colonial times never saw the inside of a schoolhouse. Instead, colonial children usually learned about the adult world by doing things the way their parents did. But, just because they didn't go to school, their lives were not easy. Children were expected to help with a share of the family's work. Boys helped their fathers and girls did chores at home.

By a time a girl was four she could knit stockings! Even with all the work they did, colonial children still found time to have fun. They cared for their pets, played with dolls, shot marbles, pitched pennies, and went fishing. They also played tag, stickball, and blindman's buff.