Global scholar Your Life as a Farmer
Why are the descriptions
of the Wester
Massachusetts farming
community central to the
plot?
Imagine you are a farmer in rural Massachusetts. It is the mid-to-late
1700s. Earlier settlers had established farms near the Connecticut River because
that land was the most fertile. When you arrive though, you are forced to set out
to establish a farm on land that was hilly, rocky, and sometimes infertile;
however, hard work has never discouraged you. You achieved your goal to
become a yeoman.
Yours is a simple life. It is filled with plenty of hard work. You own a
large tract of land, but cultivate only a small part of it. Farming takes a
tremendous amount of time and energy. You try to hire laborers to help with the
planting and harvesting; however, the region's isolation makes it difficult to find
workers
Fortunately, your father, brothers, and uncles, as well as some members of
your wife's family have farms in the same community. You, your extended
family, and your neighbors help one another sow the fields and gather the crops.
Families and friends who come together socially for common tasks such as
comhusking, logrolling, quilting, and barn raisings develop strong ties to the
community
You grow most of your own food. Water is retrieved from a well or
nearby spring or brook. Your family grows an assortment of vegetables: peas,
turnips, potatoes, and carrots. Com is either used for animal feed or is ground
into flour, however, wheat and rye are the main crops, so you grow more of
them. A surplus of these crops can be used to obtain goods that you cannot
produce on your farm-like salt or small luxuries.
Of course, buying products in this part of Western Massachusetts does not
involve the exchange of cash. Bartering is the preferred method of payment. For
example, in exchange for medical services for his family, a blacksmith might
They support the
author's claim that
A
the government did
not protect farmers
from going to jail
after the war.
They help the
author establish the
B. sharp contrast
between rural life
and city life
They help the
author establish why
C farmers joined the
army during the
war.
They support the
author's claim that
D. working in a city is
much easier than