Responsabilities during westward expansion
By Loïc Imbeau
Kids
Kids had responsabilities that seemed easy but back in the days, they were kind of hard after that long and dangerous journey.
Here are their responsabilities:
· Feeding animals
· Collecting branches
· Helping with farming
· (Boys) helping their dads with controlling the wagon
Kids had the easiest responsabilities even if it was hard to them back in the days. Sometimes, they had to take care of their grandparents.
Here are some examples:
· Make sure they are not sick
· Make sure they are not hungry
· Make sure they are not thirsty
Just making care they are alright!
Mother
Mothers had responsabilities that were not so hard but so important for the well-being of the families.
Here are their responsabilities:
· Cooking
· Housekeeping work
· Taking care of the family
· Making clothes
· Washing clothes
Most of the time, mothers cooked! During the Winter and Fall, the mothers left fruits out next to the window by the summer sun to make dried fruits .If they wanted to eat fruits during the Winter and Fall, they had to eat dried fruits!(Is it good?)
To lose your mother during the Westward Expansion was the worst thing wich can happen because she cooked for the entire family and took care of all (you wouldn’t want to lose your mom too right? )When the mother died, the father had to write a letter to the newspapers and then, a new mom would come to your house without even meeting her!
Father
The father had the hardest responsabilities in the whole family because machines didn’t exist during Westward Expansion (except trains).They had to take all their responsabilities by hand and it would take hours to finish only one responsability!
Here are their responsibilities:
· Hunt for food
· Farm for food
· Lead the way while moving
· Cut wood
· Build a campsite
· Build a house
Fathers couldn’t be inside the wagon because who would lead the way?!
They had to walk all the time except at night when they had to rest. I have a question for you: would you rather be a fisherman, a hunter, or a farmer? Those were the jobs of a father during Westward Expansion. Farmers would collect food, a hunter would hunt for food, and a fisherman would do fishing. Farmers had to touch cow poop and then put it in the soil to make the plants grow faster (Horrible, right ? ) :) :o
Sources: www.questgarden.com, www.youtube.com: moving to the plains : Go west , www.youtube.com: Pioneer life, The Ballad of Lucy Whipple
What was the types of responsabilities they had?