Apprenticeship Notecard

Quote: “In most of the colonies, apprenticeship training was a common way for children to acquire a basic education in literacy. A second, equally important benefit was learning a trade or craft that would enable a young man to start a business. As a skilled worker, he had a better chance of earning enough to start a business. As a skilled worker, he had a better chance of earning enough to support a family and remain financially independent. As a population of the colonies grew, so too did the need for skilled workers. After a child had completed an elementary education at a dame school, his family might enroll him in a grammar school or arrange for him to become an apprentice. Since most boys weren’t going to college, there was no reason for them to attend grammar school. An apprenticeship was practical alternative. The apprenticeship system in New England had the backing of the law. Apprenticeship laws required the master tradesman or craftsman to continue the literacy training of his young apprentice while teaching him the skills he would need in his particular field. The laws also required the master to support his apprentice food and shelter and other necessities. There was nothing in the laws about compulsory. However, the master was legally obliged to make sure his apprentice learned to read. Contracts between the child’s family and the master were signed. The courts had the power to enforce the terms if either party failed to meet them. Apprenticeships usually began when the child was around eight or nine and lasted until the age of twenty-one for boys and eighteen for girls. Massachusetts in 1710 amended its apprenticeship laws to require boys to learn both reading and writing and girls to learn only reading. Male apprentices learned a range of skills, from blacksmithing to tailoring. But female apprentices were only expected to learn ‘women’s work’ or ‘house-wifery.’ According to the Puritan view, writing (actually, penmanship) was not something women needed to know in order to be competent homemakers. Men, on the other hand, were preparing for employment as skilled workers. For them, writing was an essential skill.”

Paraphrase:

• Training for apprenticeship is common for people to get a education.

• Apprenticeship also taught young men how to start their own business. Although, they could also work for their master or anyone of their choosing.
• If you were a skilled worker, you could have a higher chance to start your own business, if you weren’t such a skilled worker, you had a lower chance of starting a business, so you would probably end up working for your master.
• Being a skilled worker, gains you more pay, resources and power. This is the same as today, if you are good at your job, you will be more financial.
• Once a boy had finished elementary school (dame school) he would go to grammar school or become an apprentice.
• Most boys did not go to college, only the gentry class did, their parents would not pay or enroll their children in grammar school. Instead, most people would go to train for apprenticeship.
• Most boys would try our for apprenticeship after dame school, elementary school.
• The laws for apprenticeship masters were for them to include food and shelter for their apprentices.
• The apprenticeship master had to teach his or her apprentice how to read.
• Most apprenticeships started at the age eight or nine and ended until twenty one for boys and eighteen for girls.
• In 1710, Massachusetts the laws for apprenticeship needed boys to learn how read and write but, girls on the other hand, only had to learn how to read.
• Boys got to choose from a big amount of choices such as blacksmithing or tailoring. Although girls only got to be educated in “women’s work” this was cooking, learning to read, clean and so much more.
• Penmanship was not that important to women because it does not show up that much in housework. For men, penmanship was important because this was how they prepared for work when they got older.

My Ideas: I think apprenticeship was really unfair in the Colonial times because women were not expected to learn as much as men did. Also, from a mans point of view, they had to be in apprenticeship longer than women and also had to take the responsibilities of the financial part of the family. They were the only ones who had to make a living for the family. Men were educated in all different kinds of things and went to all different kinds of schools but, girls only had to go to Petty School or Dame School. From a girls point of view, having the right of not going to school for longer, or having a better educational experience in being an apprentice was unfair. Girls also only got to have a small matter of choices and boys had a huge spectrum of choices, they could choose practically whatever job they wanted to apprentice in. Girls only got to do housework during apprenticeship and did not learn any other type of schooling education other than reading. It is interesting how important reading was for the colonists. Was reading a big part of their daily life? It is still really important to learn how to read now but it is as important as writing. I feel like women would really need to know how to write too so they could teach their children how to read and write. It also takes writing skills to do math, wouldn’t the mothers need to teach their children mathematics? I also find it confusing that penmanship is important for men and is not important for women. I feel like women would need to have good penmanship so they could teach their children how to read, write and do mathematics. Although, they also have to do a lot of labor and housework too. I feel like men would need to do a lot of labor too when they are working. It is unfair how women don’t get to have the right to go to work and make money. On the other hand, men don’t have too much time to relax, they have to do work all day. In the Native American cultures it is not like this and the Enslaved Africans lives are even more hard work. In Virginia, the Native Americans share all the work and the women do a lot of the hard work. The women farm, cook and more, all these things women do are very important. Men also do the same tasks as women, this makes Virginia equal. When the Europeans came to the New World, they messed up the Native American’s ways. They created un-fairness in the Native American culture by only letting some be educated. I am sure the Enslaved Africans did not have the same rank of un-equal-ness as the Europeans did before they were captured. I feel like the Europeans created all the chaos in the world now because of their un-fairness. For example, the Europeans only let the top few have good education and did not let the lowest of the low get education at all. It is against the rules for them to even have education! I believe this is racist because the Europeans are only allowing the white people be educated. Even the white slaves can be educated and the colored slaves cannot. The Native Americans did not have apprenticeship, the whole community did everything and everybody did everything. Unlike the Europeans, the men had some choices to chose from and women had some choices to chose from. Men and women could never do the same job.