Colonial American Family

Imagine a bustling home, where a flourishing family lives. An inviting scent carries guests to the kitchen, where a woman is cooking. There are children playing and running around, and grandparents sitting by the fire. That is the American house, the heart of colonial families. What do they do in their daily life, and how did they start?
Elizabeth Rolfe, a young woman in her twenties, had just finished her service as an indentured servant, a laborious seven years of slavery to an unknown family. Nonetheless, she has made it to Georgia, and now she has freedom and liberty. Her newfound buoyant attitude has attracted many suitors. Men outnumbered women in America, and therefore most women were guaranteed a marriage proposal by their mid twenties. She was no exception, and chose to marry someone who she judged to be a good and honest man who lives on a small farm on the rural area outside of Savannah.
Houses in colonial America are all similarly run and oriented. John White, the man that Elizabeth had married, became the head

of the household. He is now the family’s disciplinary figure and breadwinner. In particularly poor families, the father was also the religious leader. On his role as a father, John says “This family’s riding on me… I have to take care of all of the money and food”. He takes another sip of tea and looks at his wife, who looks up from cooking corn on an open fire. Cooking can be tough, and it is not the only job a woman has in colonial America. Elizabeth has many jobs including farming, cleaning, and doing laundry. She also lovingly takes care of the children. The White household currently has 7 children, and the four young girls follow their mother’s footsteps to help tend to the cooking food. The boys, James, William, and Edward, chase each other with buckets of water from the well as they water some crops outside on the farm.
The atmosphere of the house was always welcoming due to Elizabeth and John’s affable nature.

Though despite all of that, the ghost of death finds even the happiest families. John’s brother, Elijah, had died, and his wife contracted malaria and was on her deathbed. Their children mourned their death, and the air became dark and doleful around them. They were now orphans, and found a new opportunity for life with the White family. But families always keep growing. The typical family in America consists of grandparents, parents, children, and adopted orphans.
To conclude, colonial families are a fascinating aspect of life in America. No matter where you lived, the families were large, working, and very similar. Everyone in the house has a specific job, and they work every day. Death is as large of an attribute to the family life as work, and it affects how the family is run. The home is truly important in America, and home is where the heart

is.