Jobs in 18th and 19th Century

Lesson Plan for Liberty Hall Video

Grade Level: 4th - 6th Grades

Background Information

John Brown was one of the first two US Senators of Kentucky. He was also a attorney and very involved in other endeavors such as architecture, real estate, and public works such as operating a ferry and organizing the water works. John Brown also helped to organize the Kentucky Historical Society. Many other people and their occupations are mentioned in the Liberty Hall of Kentucky video. Some of the occupations that were needed for the time period of the 1800’s are also needed today. Women, for the most part, did not have the opportunity to be formally educated, but were taught early on how to supervise the many tasks of running the house. This included cooking, doing laundry, candle making, sewing, gardening, and many other daily tasks. Slaves generally performed the heavy labor at Liberty Hall. Margaretta Brown was an exceptionally well-educated woman of her time period. Because of this, she was able to entertain her husband’s clients and prominent political guests and to also school her own children, as well as supervise the work at the large house and grounds of Liberty Hall.

Kentucky Goals/Academic Expectations

1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.10, 1.11, 1.16, 2.15, 2.16, 2.20, 5.3, 6.3

Other Kentucky Goals/Academic Expectations correlate to the Extensions found in this lesson plan.

See Extensions for these extra Kentucky Goals/Academic Expectations

Objectives:

As a result of this lesson, students will be able to:

Lay out information in diagram format

Learn how to use inference skills

Watch a video while listening for specific information

Materials Needed

transparency/chart paper

different color markers

journal or stapled paper packet for students

Books/internet for research

Time Required 3-4 Class Periods/Days:

60-minute period for Preparation for Video and Watching the Video.

30-minute period for discussing occupations not known

60-minute period for research on questions and reporting to class

30-60 minute period for extension (if not given for homework)

INSTRUCTIONAL FORMAT

Preparation for Video

Before watching the video, set up a KWL chart on the board, a transparency, or an easel. A KWL chart for this lesson might look like the following:

K (Under the “K” column list what the students KNOW about the topic)W (Under the “W” column list what the students WANT to learn)L (Under the “L” column list what the students HAVE LEARNED at the end of the lesson)

Divide the “K” column into two sections: Jobs of Today and Jobs of 1790-1830. Introduce the Browns to the students by telling some brief information as stated above in “Background Information.” Ask the students what they “know” about jobs in the early 1800’s. What jobs did people have during this time period? Then, what jobs do people have today? Use questions like the following to brainstorm different ideas: (Keep in mind while answering these questions that though many men had hard jobs outside the home, but the job of the woman in the home was also continuous and taxing work, as was the labor of slaves in some homes including Liberty Hall.)

Ask:

What kinds of jobs do people hold today to earn money?

What do you think people in the 1800’s did for a living?

What kind of work did women do in the 1800’s? (took care of the house, maybe taught children, see Background Information)

How are jobs of the 1800’s the same as occupations of today? (same type of jobs needed, had to go to school or learn a skill, etc.)

How are they different from occupations of today? (didn’t get paid always with money, maybe worked for food, different tools, made everything by hand, not many machines, lots of long traveling, no cars in 1800’s, etc.)

Try to get all of the students involved, but don’t force students to talk about home-life if they choose not to. You do not have to prod them too much before the video. The video should help them learn more about 1790-1830 occupations.

After completing the “K” section, ask the students if they have questions about what people might have done differently in 1790-1830 compared to today. Write these in section “W.” Some questions you might want to include are:

Ask:

Where did they eat if they weren’t at home? (other people’s houses, inns)

Where did people get their clothes? (cloth was bought and then tailors sewed clothes, sometimes they made them at home)

What happened when people got sick? (taken care of in their house, doctor visited the home)

How did people get paid? (sometimes with cash, but often with land, food, or goods)

Watching the Video

Let the students know that you will be watching a video on John and Margaretta Brown who lived in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s in Kentucky. On another page have them write down the occupations that they hear mentioned. Encourage them to use their inference, or reasoning, skills to figure out different occupations that are not directly mentioned in the video. For example, the video does not show the painters of the portraits, but a “painter” was an occupation of that time period. Discuss the meaning of “infer” before watching the video.

A list of occupations that are talked about in the video are at the end of this lesson plan. This list also includes inferred occupations. Students may come up with other occupations on their own.

Follow-Up Lesson

Discuss what the students learned from the video. What occupations did they learn about that were not listed in the “K” section? Write these in a different color under Jobs of 1790-1830.

Divide the students up into groups and give each group one of the questions under the “W” section. Have them discuss what they know about the answer to the question as a result of watching the video. Provide books or access to the internet for them to find out at least one more piece of information that can help them answer their question. (Have them find one article and read it; find a web page and look at it; etc.) Report answers to the class.

Extensions

Creative writing (2.36, 3.4)

Have the students write a creative writing piece in their journals. Have them decide what occupation during the 1790-1830 time period they might want to have. Have them pretend to be a character during this time period and have them make up a name, age, and family for their character. Have them write about what they do during the day. Tell them they must include three things about what they learned in the video. Have them write these three things in list form at then end of the creative writing piece.

Letter writing (2.33)

Use the opportunity of learning about John Brown’s job as one of Kentucky’s first U.S. Senators to introduce information about the U.S. government. In order for the students to find out what a U.S. Senator does today, have the students write a letter to your U.S. Senator to ask questions they may have. After writing on their own, students should collaborate to write a letter from the whole class. Make sure to include what they learned in the video and at least three questions that the students can anticipate the answers to. (Example: What are you doing in congress right now? What do you do during the day? Where are you from? How long have you been a Senator?) Email this letter to your U.S. Senator to find out questions from him/her. When you receive a response, discuss the answers in class. If you receive no response, be ready to offer the answers to the questions yourself.

Diagramming (5.3)

Have students create a Venn Diagram on another page in their journals. Have one circle be Jobs of 1790-1830 and the other be Jobs of Today (these can be taken from the “K” section of the KWL chart). Teach students about the purpose of a Venn Diagram. For their extension, have them separate the jobs into the appropriate sections. The middle section (cross-section) should be jobs that are found in both 1790-1830 and today.

Field-Trip (2.33, 3.5)

Set up a field trip to Liberty Hall. (We would love to have you and your students!) Give the groups they have already been assigned one of the following occupations: lawyer, senator, architect, mother, cook, gardener. On their trip tell the students to recognize three things in or around the house that would have related or been important to their job in the early 1800’s. Follow up with a small writing exercise about what they learned.

See www.libertyhall.org for more lessons plans related to taking a field trip to Liberty Hall.

VOCABULARY

Infer

Legacy

Mid-wife

Senator

Venn Diagram

Credits

Some information for Jobs in the 18th and 19th Centuries was taken from the lesson plans for Liberty Hall field trips written by Marsha Miller and Devon Huber (Midway College, 1999). You can find these lesson plans at www.libertyhall.org.

Occupations from Liberty Hall of Kentucky Video

(Keep in mind some of these jobs were done by slaves. Make sure you are ready to sensitively address any questions that come up.)

Senator

Lawyer

Minister

Cook (slave in video)

Ditch Digger (sometimes slaves)

Sunday School Teacher

President

Brick Maker

Wife who supervises the house

Inferred Occupations from Liberty Hall of Kentucky Video

Farmer

Soldier

Architect

Mother

Judge

Doctor (Mid-wife)

Painter (Portraitist)

Painter (House)

Teacher

Carriage Driver

Butcher

Silver Smith

House Builder

Carpenter

Brick Layer

Shingle Maker

Horse Handlers (Stable/Carriage House workers)