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Procedure: Read to or with your students. Have the students color the pictures provided in class.
When George Washington Was A Child
George Washington was born a long time ago, long before your grandmother
or grandfather were born. He was born on a farm named Popes Creek Plantation.
Farms were called plantations and George’s father was a planter
because everyone planted tobacco. Tobacco was the cash crop; it was planted
to sell to make money. When George Washington was a child, slaves and
servants worked in the tobacco fields, cooked the food for the Washingtons,
and worked at all of the chores in the house and on the farm such as feeding
the animals.
There were a lot of animals on the farm when George Washington was a child.
Most of the animals were raised for food and other uses. Pigs would run
in the swamps. Ham, bacon, sausage and pork chops all came from the pigs.
Everything on the pig was used; even the hair on the pigs was used to
make brushes. Sheep were raised for mutton (sheep roast), lamb chops and
the wool for clothing. Do you have a wool stocking cap or scarf? Geese,
ducks and chickens were on the farm for eggs, eating and the feathers.
Goose quills (feathers) were used for writing when George Washington was
a child. Cows were on the farm for the milk and the calves were trained
to be oxen. Oxen were the colonial tractors when George Washington was
a child. Plowing, moving trees and carrying firewood on the oxcart were
jobs for a yoke of oxen. A yoke of oxen are 2 ox. Cows also were raised
for eating. Hamburgers, beef roasts and steaks come from cows. Horses
were raised for riding and plowing when George Washington was a child.
George Washington liked to ride and trained horses all of his life. Thomas
Jefferson said that George Washington was “the greatest horseman
of his age.” Are you a good horse rider like George Washington?
Popes Creek Plantation is on the Potomac River. Can you find the Potomac
River on a map of Virginia? The river was the colonial highway; everything
traveled by boat. That is why most plantations were on the water and the
first towns in Virginia were located where ships could dock. The Potomac
River was full of fish when George Washington was a child. One of George
Washington’s favorite foods was fish. He ate fish every day. Do
you like fish? Young George Washington liked to go fishing too. He went
fishing even when he was President of the United States. Do you like to
fish? The Potomac River and Popes Creek were good places to go swimming
for George Washington when he was a child. Do you like to swim?
When George Washington was a child, Popes Creek Plantation was like a
small town. Everything that you needed to live, you raised on the farm.
The Washingtons, servants and slaves provided their own food by raising
animals, raising crops and gardens, and making some of their own clothing.
An important crop for the Washingtons came from the Indians in the early
settlement of Virginia, corn. Corn was the most important food crop on
the plantation because the people and animals could eat it. Gardens were
important on the plantation since there were no grocery stores. Peas,
carrots, beets, cabbages and squash were part of the garden when George
Washington was a child. Do you raise a garden at home? What types of fruits
and vegetables do you plant?
The kitchen was separate from the house when George Washington was a child.
The kitchen had a wood fire every day and could catch on fire. It was
easier to rebuild a kitchen than to rebuild a whole house. The kitchen
had a lot of work going on inside and outside. Cooking, washing clothes,
making candles, making soap and making butter were all chores for the
kitchen servants and slaves. The kitchen sounds like a place for hard
work, doesn’t it?
The Washingtons lived in the main house. This was the “big”
house with the best furniture and fancy items like curtains, glass windows,
tables and chairs. Does your house have windows, tables and chairs? Very
small children sometimes wore a pillow around their head or waist to protect
them when they fell. This pillow was called a “pudding” and
saved the child from getting bruised or cut from falling down. Children
(boys and girls) would wear a “dress” until they were four
or five. This dress was called a “shift.” George Washington
wore a shift when he as a child. After five years of age, children were
dressed as grown-ups. Do you wear grown-up clothes or kids’ clothes?
After George Washington began wearing grown-up clothes, he would begin
his education. Children learned their abc’s from a hornbook. The
hornbook got its name from using cow horn to protect the paper with the
abc’s written on them.
Daily life on a plantation was a lot different from your life today. George
Washington grew up on a plantation with chores and lots of work just to
provide food. There are a lot of stories about George Washington as a
child. The story of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree probably
did not happen. However, George Washington was known for being honest
(he really could not tell a lie). What does being honest mean?
Being honest helped George Washington become the “Father of Our
Country.” George Washington was the first President of the United
States. He was such a great man that the capitol of the United States
is named for him (Washington, D.C.). What George Washington did for the
United States (president) is why George Washington Birthplace National
Monument is a National Park. Washington Birthplace belongs to everybody
and is managed by the Federal Government.
Coloring Picture of a Yoke of Oxen
A yoke of oxen were the tractors when George Washington was a child. The
ox driver stood beside the oxen when he drove them. The ox cart was used
to carry wood and hay.
Coloring Picture of Horse and Foal
George Washington liked to ride horses. Thomas Jefferson wrote that George
Washington was the greatest horseman of his age. This picture is of a
mare and a colt. Do you like to ride horses?