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Summary and Objective
Students will understand that inventories can be used as a window on material culture. They will analyze four inventories that describe the personal possessions of individuals who lived in 17th and 18th century Massachusetts. Students will gain a better understanding of what items New Englanders may have both owned and considered valuable. Students will analyze how material culture in America has changed over time.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Helpful background essays and great lesson plans on inventories and wills can be found on the American Centuries Website. Simply click on the Web Site Links below. After reading the background matericals remind students about the terms regarding money. "L" means pounds sterling, "Sh" means shillings (20 shillings = 1 pound), and "d" means pence (12 pence = 1 shilling).
Step 2.
Tell students that they will be learning about the daily home life of people who lived in Massachusetts during the 17th and 18th centuries by investigating written inventories of their possessions. In order to help students understand what an inventory is, and in order to help students make some comparisons with the possessions of contemporary Americans, students could be asked to make an inventory of a room in their house (e.g., their kitchen) as an introduction to this lesson. You may want to limit the amount of time they are allowed to spend on their personal home inventory to anywhere from 15-30 minutes.
Step 3.
Before students begin working with the inventories on this activity, it would be good to encourage them to approach the activity like historical detectives. Tell students that they will not immediately understand all of the words and abbreviations used to describe items on the inventories. They may figure out what some of the items are eventually, but some may remain a mystery, and that is fine. They will, however, be able to decipher enough of the terms in order to answer the questions below and learn more about home life and material culture in New England. You may assign different groups the different inventories represented in Steps 4-7. Groups could investigate their assigned inventory and then present their findings to the class, or may choose to have all of the students complete all of the steps.
Step 4.
Click on the icon for the “Inventory of Edward Allyn.” Note the date when the inventory was written. Click the “Show Text” icon in order to view a transcription of the inventory. How many pieces of furniture did he own? Which items were worth the most money? Which items would probably not be found in a contemporary American household?
Step 5.
Click on the icon for the “Inventory of David Hoyt” and note the date of the inventory.
Make a list of the five most valuable items on the list. Why would these items be considered more valuable than the others? How many pieces of furniture did he own? What substance were the plates made from?
Step 6.
Click on “Elizabeth Amsden Inventory” and note the date of the inventory. What types of materials were her household goods made from? How many pieces of furniture did she own? Why would a female weaver want farm animals? If you visited Elizabeth during the evening, how bright would the light be in her home?
Step 7.
Click on “Mrs. Esther Williams inventory” and again note the date. A few helpful hints before you get started: 1) The letter C after an item stands for Cynthia and Pol stands for Polly, ladies who were designated to receive those items; 2) Also, D° = ditto (another) and Pr = pair. Be sure to view all four pages of the inventory and make a list of the furniture she had in her home. How do you think Esther Williams stored items in her home? Notice the most valuable items on page 2 of the inventory. Can you explain why these items were considered so valuable compared to today? Do you think that most people in rural New England during this time had curtains? Do you think that Esther Williams’ neighbors would have considered her wealthy? Why or why not?
Step 8.
Discussion questions for students after they have investigated the inventories: 1) Are inventories valuable historical documents? 2) What are the dangers of making generalizations about large groups of people (e.g., New Englanders in Colonial America) after viewing just a few inventories? 3) Why would it be helpful to know the occupation, social status or relative wealth of an individual who has an inventory? 4) Why might it be helpful to know the season of the year when the inventory was taken?
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