[Guest Author: Rachel Rodewald returns to Writing for the Public Square with a newly contributed post about colonial trades for the Countdown America 250 series. Rachel holds a Master’s Degree in History from George Mason University.]
The story of America’s founding is the story of ordinary citizens engaged in a wide variety of colonial trades—silversmiths, blacksmiths, printers, coopers, ropemakers, carpenters, tailors—who came together in pursuit of a free and independent nation. Most remain nameless, lost to the ages. But a few, like Paul Revere, are the stuff of legend.
Colonial Tradesman Paul Revere
When we think about Paul Revere, he’s usually atop a galloping horse. Signaled in the middle of the night by fellow Sons of Liberty member Robert Newman and a lantern hung in the Old North Church, Revere rides to alert nearby residents that “the British are coming!” This indelible image of the celebrated patriot, immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, has been held by generations of schoolchildren and adults.
But Revere’s equestrian skills were not all he had to offer. He had already fashioned a prosperous career for himself as a silversmith and engraver, both highly valued colonial trades. His engraved depiction of the Boston Massacre—arguably the most dramatic headline of the era—would become the single most familiar image capturing the tragic event that would become the precursor to revolution.
Many of the figures in Revere’s image were themselves active tradesmen. Crafts like metalworking, engraving and printing, and the shipping-related crafts were critical to the emerging American economy. They were equally critical to the spread of new patriotic ideas and crucial to the war effort.
Revere built a business (and his reputation) as one of Boston’s most notable silversmiths. He managed generations of journeymen and apprentices from the ground floor of his home. These craftsmen and craftsmen-in-training melted solid silver in extremely hot crucibles before forging and finishing specialty items like cutlery, tea sets, and candlesticks. Revere’s operations served Boston’s elite. Countless other artisans worked in silver, iron, tin and other metals to make essential goods throughout the 13 colonies.
Tradesmen Join the War Effort
When the revolution began, local militias and arsenals were essential but far too few to win enough battles. Britain’s 1750 Iron Act, one of the nation’s Trade and Navigation Acts, had increased demand for the colonies’ iron supplies. However, it also actively discouraged local manufacture of finished goods. As a result of these laws and a general lack of industrial infrastructure, few factories existed to supply the Continental Army with guns and cannons.
Still, local smiths and even families supplemented existing stores and materiel contributed by allies like France and Spain. They worked together to melt housewares into thousands of musket balls and other necessities. After the war, Paul Revere would innovate the technology of putting copper sheathing on the hulls of warships.
In his role as engraver, Revere participated in an emerging American tradition of printers, authors, and illustrators who worked to make revolutionary ideas a part of common life. Printers used elaborate plates and woodcuts set on large presses to spread information quickly through the colonies.
Enduring examples of the pages produced include vital newspapers, pamphlets like Thomas Paine’s famous Common Sense, political cartoons, and other designs that made current events and arguments more immediate. Britain continued to hinder colonial printers with legislation like the Stamp Act, which imposed taxes on paper and other goods. These developments encouraged printers to lead the charge against The Crown.
Another familiar and much admired Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, also made his name as a printer. As a teen, Franklin began writing essays for his brother’s newspaper under the pen name Silence Dogood. He would later buy the ailing Pennsylvania Gazette in 1729 and turn it around. He published pamphlets full of aphorisms and favorite passages, including the popular Poor Richard’s Almanac.
Nautical Trades & Laborers
Back in Boston, many laborers and tradesmen from the city’s harbor were among the crowd of onlookers and participants in the violence that would become known as the Boston Massacre. Among them was Crispus Attucks, a freeman of African and Native American descent who was a maritime laborer and sailor. In the melee, Attucks took two British musket balls to the chest. His death, along with four other civilians, is often considered the first fatality of the Revolution.
Ropemakers’ clubs would become a key piece of evidence in John Adams’ successful legal defense of British Captain Thomas Preston and his men. Adams argued that members of the crowd brandished the clubs as weapons against the Redcoats, causing the soldiers to fire on the crowd in self-defense.
Like other nautical trades, ropemaking required intense labor. Workers twisted, beat, and waterproofed fibers into ropes. Long sheds called ropewalks housed the newly formed ropes. Dust, fiber scraps, and hot tar used to waterproof the finished products made these buildings extreme fire hazards. They were also tinderboxes of a different sort. Inflamed laborers with access to stores of pine tar created ripe conditions for tarring and feathering of unsuspecting British officials.
The skill of ropemakers and other tradesmen, combined with rich natural resources, made shipbuilding a major colonial trade in the 1700s. The New England colonies in particular had an abundance of tar, hemp, and lumber. Here, the trees were tall and straight enough to serve as masts and yardarms. The colonial shipping stock, and the subsequent wealth it produced, continued to grow. In time, French and Spanish allies bolstered the Continental Navy, but these American-made ships would prove vital to the war effort.
Celebrating Yesterday’s Workers
America’s economy and livelihoods have changed considerably in the 250 years since Paul Revere was fashioning silver. Thankfully, we can still see and appreciate the craftsmanship that won the Revolution. As the nation prepares for its semiquincentennial, many arts and crafts museums and historical museums around the country hold print and smithed artifacts in their collections. Historical databases also maintain period prints that the public can view digitally.
REFLECTION 250: For your Countdown America 250 bucket list, here is a short list of locations you can visit to experience colonial trade craft in action:
- The Paul Revere House in Boston, Massachusetts
- The Franklin Court Printing Office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Mount Vernon, Virginia
- Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia
- Fort Ticonderoga, Ticonderoga, New York
- Pennsbury Manor, Morrisville, Pennsylvania
- Historic Richmond Town, Staten Island, New York
- American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, Yorktown, Virginia
This article is part of Writing for the Public Square’s Countdown America 250 series celebrating the semiquincentennial of America’s founding. For more Founding Fun Facts, patriotic trivia and news-you-can-use to get involved with the Semiquincentennial, visit the Writing for the Public Square Facebook page today!