According to this documentary that came out in 1969, the biggest city in 1800 was Philadelphia. Most people lived in the countryside, approximately 90%..
This documentary follows the Wilson family as they live there life out on an American farm. It appeared they were living in a saltbox style house, which was popular during the 1800’s. The father not only was a farmer but also had a store that serviced his small community. Though most of the country was agrarian in nature, it was common that they had a second job. Some of them were doctors, lawyers, bankers, blacksmiths and other professions.
I’ve watched a lot of documentaries in the Amish. They live very similar to the Wilson family as they were portrayed in this film.
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It’s amazing how much of an effort it was to just stay alive in that era. They also had to be very organized and not waste anything.
Near the end, they told of the oldest daughter going on a trip to attend college via stagecoach. The stage coaches would leave very early in the morning, between 3am and 5am.. They were very uncomfortable and took 45 hours to get from New York to Boston. On long trips, they would stop at roadside taverns where they would stay the night and eat.
The world has come a long way the past two hundred years or so. It’d be neat to know what the next 100 years will bring to humanity.
When you think about it, the evolution of America is just a drop in the bucket when you think in terms of how long the earth as we know it has been around.
