Henry T. Notes

Craft and Industry in jamestown

Source:

“craft-industry.” historic james town , historicjamestowne.org/collections/selected-artifacts/craft-industry/. Accessed 5 Nov. 2016.

Quote:

The Virginia Company recruited many specialists for their new colony on the banks of the James River. Some of these men were actively engaged in trying to get profitable commodities from Virginia’s resources. Others provided support services. They all hoped to make money quickly. There were refiners, goldsmiths, and jewelers to work precious metals. There were blacksmiths and gunsmiths to repair tools, weapons, and armor. Bricklayers were sent to build the furnaces needed by the various crafts. There were carpenters to construct the first buildings and defensive features of the fort. Coopers produced the barrels to ship the newfound commodities back to England. Even glassmakers from Germany were sent to see if there was a commercial profit to producing glass from Virginia’s wood and sand.

Paraphrase:

1. There was a lot ot of smiths and other special jobs consist on the trip because the London Company recited them.
2. Some were try to get Virginia’s natural resources to make a living others gave services to colonist, they all wanted money fast.
3. There were people that could use precious metals and gems to make items.
4. There were people that would repair tools for the colonist.
5. There were people that would make bricks and place them down.
6. There was people who would make houses and defenses for the fort.
7. There were people who would make barrels for ships to give items to England.
8. There were people sent to look for good sand to make glass.

My Ideas:

I wonder if they really needed all these specialist for making special items? Probably not because they don’t really need gold jewelry. I wonder if they poured their resources into making items that were useless in making the fort and surviving for a long period of time? Maybe they did because that seems like something a ton of weary gentlemen would have wanted and ordered. I wonder if they did make item that were useless, and what the items were maybe gold items or jewelry. I think that there was glass at the church in Jamestown and that probably was because of the glassmakers. I wonder if the sand was good for glass at virginia? Probably normal, because I have heard nothing about american’s sand being better than europe’s sand. I wonder how many total people were sent that were good at making specific items?because I know that around 12 blacksmith were sent. I wonder why it was named virginia and what the powhatans called it before then english came. I wonder what class these people were on the trip?

History:

Created: 11/06/2016 12:56 PM

Freddie F. Notes

Quote: Blacksmiths were in high demand in urban areas and often worked from dawn to dusk, six days per week. In rural areas with small populations, many blacksmiths supplemented their income with farming or hunting. According to “History of Wages in the United States from Colonial Times to 1928,” journeyman blacksmiths in New Amsterdam — a Dutch settlement that later became New York — earned about 40 cents per day in 1637. Blacksmiths sometimes bartered their services in exchange for food, goods or services.

Paraphrase: Blacksmith were needed a lot in cities and worked from sunrise to sunset six day each week. In little towns were not as much work was needed, the Blacksmith would farm and hunt as well since they didn’t make enough money. Blacksmiths in New York in 1637 would earn 40 cents per day. Sometimes they traded their work for food or goods.

My Ideas:

How much money would a Blacksmith make on a daily basis in Colonial Virginia? I can infer that they would make more than the Blacksmiths in New York because there was a lot more people in Virginia at the time. They might have made 60 or 55 cents a day. I wonder how much that would be worth now, or if it’s in what would be money now. I remember that we studied how much a meal cost in the 19th century in 4th grade, and it was 3 cents a meal. You can buy a meal today is 5-10 dollars, so the Blacksmith made a good amount of money a day.

I wonder if the Blacksmith had a farm, or hunted when he was in cities? I know he would farm and hunt in non urban areas, but what would he do if he needed extra money in a city? I can infer he might have had a garden. He probably owned a gun, like all men in the colonial era, so he could go out and hunt whenever he wanted to. He also didn’t have to spend money on any tools, he could make them for himself for free.