Francis J. Degnan
The settlement of New England demanded the learning of new skills. Few came prepared for the multifarious demands of the New World. Many found it a unique time that allowed for the development of their natural aptitudes. Some were willing to pay the more skilled of the community to make items for them. Indeed there were those who arrived who were themselves or family members hoping that the new occupation would provide them with a livelihood. British Mercantilism coerced the New Englanders into developing their own skills; to be opportunistic and to take advantage of what resources they had. The New England colonies had few export products, hence no credit or hard cash from England. A bartering and trading economy emerged! A “handson” society, in which a system of apprentice, journeymen, and master craftsman developed and thrived. Skills were developed through repetition and time on task. Pride in one’s ability increased with one’s skill development. New Englanders become more and more independent and eventually free.
Mother England sought to put herself before her colonies. The colonies were to trade only with her. For anything imported they were expected to pay cash or have credit from their exports. New England had a predicament; no exports and no hard money or credit to pay for the imports they wanted. Colonists felt that they were equally good Englishmen and found infuriating the limitations placed upon them simply because they were now considered colonists. An interesting values reversal took place, smuggling becoming an accepted practice. In fact the populace not only condoned smuggling but held in high esteem their civic lesders who practiced it. To clarify, smuggling referred to the practice of breaking the English laws that limited the colonies to trade only with England. Goods were smuggled into ports in other countries. A large part of this illegal trade became the infamous slave trade triangle. The colonies were successful in attaining the cash that England demanded. Usually, however, the coin was either Spanish doubloons or Dutch dollars. The dollar eventually being chosen as the term to describe our modern day currency. The British were aware of the colonists’ tactics and in order to drain the cash further levied a tax on tea. This tax precipitated the Boston Tea Party.
The economic status of the South was very different. The Southern colonies had the items that the British wanted; cotton, tobacco, rice, indigo, pine tar, and turpentine among them. They received just about a third of the market value of these products; however, this was enough to allow the landowners in the south to purchase from England and the smugglers what they needed. The craftsman wasn’t in demand in the south to the degree he was in the north. Outside of the larger southern cities there was little call for specialists. If in fact hired to help on a plantation the owner would have a slave assist the artisan and in doing so learn the skill. Needless to say the craftsman wouldn’t be needed again.
The youngest son of an English immigrant who was skilled in the dyeing trade serves well to illustrate the importance and development of the artisan in the New England colonies. Benjamin Franklin’s father Josiah, had in fact been apprenticed to his father Thomas in England. Josiah Franklin found upon arrival in this country he was unable to make a living at dyeing. This posed but a momentary barrier to the senior Franklin who disregarded family tradition and managed to become a successful tallow chandlercandle maker and soap boiler. Ben had been sent at age eight to a grammar school; he had exhibited early reading skills and was thought to have a chance to become a scholar, perhaps a minister. Family burdens forced his father to remove him from school. Ben started to help his father but made known that he didn’t care to be a chandler and would be interested in a life at sea. Ben’s brothers had all become apprentices in different trades and now Josiah felt it was Ben’s turn. Josiah didn’t feel the sea was a viable alternative and in the course of the next years sought to show Ben as many different trade apprentice opportunities as possible. Finally at the age of twelve Ben’s predisposition for reading led him to accept as the best of the evils indenture as an apprentice to a brother who was a printer. The term of his indenture was to be nine years. In his last year only was he to receive a journeyman’s wages. Five years into his indenture Ben ingeniously contrived to escape his brother’s control and on his own travel and settle in Philadelphia where he became a journeyman printer.
Benjamin Franklin was an extraordinary person yet his family’s indenture was not an outoftheordinary scenario for the time. There was a need for labor in America. A master accepted apprentices on a contractual basis in hopes of keeping them on. The contract was called an indenture. The normal term of an indenture was from five to seven years. The youth was to conduct himself in a mature fashion, obey his master and keep the secrets of the trade. In addition to the trade the master might also teach the youth to read and write as well as balance the accounts of the business. At the end of the term of indenture the apprentice, dependent upon his trade, might be required to produce some exemplary work, an apprentice piece. Then upon completion to his indenture he was given a new outfit and as well had proof of his skill. Once a journeyman there was work aplenty and within a reasonable time the young man could set himself up as a master.
Josiah Franklin, Ben recalled, took him to see printers, cutlers, bricklayers, joiners and many other trades in hopes to dissuade him from going to sea and coax him into becoming an honorable craftsman. These were but some of the trades of the time. Many of our children in our schools, regardless of economic background cannot state what their parent does for a living. Often a student will say where they work but not what they do. If children are not made aware of the many choices that are ahead of them they may well not accept the challenge to learn and discover a place for themselves. Our labor is hidden from our children. Craftsmen were more visible during the colonial period. Today many workers don’t produce a tangible product and the products that are produced are not sold directly by the producer.
Early trades were usually centered around the home or in towns and were individually done or were enterprises that involved group work. Some of the early trades included:
Blacksmith
—a key artisan in any community; few had his ability; cow to horseshoes to hinges to axe heads.
Cooper
—everything was kept or transported in barrels, fish and meats salted, cider, molasses and gunpowder stored.
Housewright
—the forefather of our contractors he framed the house out of boards he shaped and assembled.
Sawyers
—aided the housewright and made the smaller timbers used in the floors and walls.
Joiner
—did exactly that; joined the wood, made drawers and simple furniture; not quite as skilled as a cabinet maker.
Miller
—ground the corn, wheat, oats or other grain to the specifications to the farmers.
Tanner
—made the leather from the hides; tanning was the name given to this process.
Weaver
—usually a home craft done by the women of the household. Wool cotton and flax were most commonly woven.
Fuller
—the fuller cleaned the homespun woolen cloth; one item used was the fuller’s earth, a clay that would remove the oils.
Chandler
—at first a housewife’s chore was candle making. Later when made with whale spermaceti it was done in shops.
Tinker or Whitesmith
—made their own tindipping iron in a tin bath and concerned himself with everyday household items.
Barber and Wigmaker
—the barber not only cut hair but did minor surgery, the hair became wigs the fashion of the time.
Baker
—once a town had an inn it usually could support a bakery, the bakers dozen started because bakers short weighted many.
Apothecary
—much like a doctor, he visited the sick and mixed the remedies he handed out.
Hatter
—everyone wore a hat—woolen, felt or the most sought after beaver; you could be a ‘mad hatter’ because of the mercury used.
Hornsmith
—used animal horn, softened it, flattened it into sheets, clarified it and made tortoise shell combs, buttons, hornbooks.
Locksmith
—as possessions accumulated security became more important. Locks changed little until Linus Yale changed them.
Gunsmith
—as today then nearly everyone owned a gun, they were handmade without any interchangeable parts.
Pewterer
—this metal although made of lead and tin was used extensively for spoons, dishes, teapots, etc.
Coppersmith
—copper began to be used here in Connecticut and New England with its discovery in the mid-1700’s.
Silversmith
—New Englanders turned their silver coin into plate thus the term coin silver, money couldn’t be identified.
Limner
—literally means liner. This term was used to describe the early painters whose skills were as varied as the land.
Brazier
—built foundries and made bells sometimes from copper and tin, bronze, or brass which is copper and zinc.