Could We Survive Colonial America?

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[ManiusCuriusDenatus]

Don't forget Samuel Whitmore Jr. 1696-1793. Fought at Lexington and Concord at 79, killed two or three British grenadiers, was shot in the face and bayoneted, left for dead and subsequently recovered and lived another 18 years dying of natural causes.

[cmcb]

Superb video. Towards the end he says they probably thought they were living in the best of times. Makes you wonder if 200 years from now there’ll be a future Townsend video asking if future people could survive during our lifetime.

[raymondmiller]

In 1904, my great grandfather, a barber, slightly knicked his hand pulling a cork out of a hair tonic bottle. A few months later, he was dead of what was probably blood poisoning. We all take for granted: public sanitation, clean drinking water, the development of antibiotics, and "Modern Medicine" overall.

[RolloTonéBrownTown]

It's a pity isn't it? Nick Cresswell was like *the* original swashbuckling rogue adventurer. He survived more horror and extreme danger than many people do in their entire lives, yet even in his journal, on what he thought was his deathbed, he didn't lose heart. I would very much like to see a miniseries about him. In the same vein as the BBC/HBO John Adams series.

[Narrowgaugefilms]

Every time we twist a faucet and potable water comes out, we should be glad to live in the times we have.
A History professor of mine described it as the single greatest advance in Public Health ever made.

[elizabethl]

And THEN, have a dozen kids!!
The Lewis and Clark expedition was amazing. I’m glad I read about it with my kids.
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch was another good book to read with them.

[Snargfargle]

My Dad's family would have had no problem being transported back into colonial times. Grandpa was an Oklahoma sharecropper during the Great Depression, still farming with mules because he couldn't afford a tractor. Dad and his twin brother were born and raised in a log cabin, with an outside well for water, kerosene lamps for light, and a wood-burning stove and fireplace to cook on and for heat. They kept hogs, chickens and a couple of cows, and Grandma had a big garden. Dad and his twin brother would hunt squirrels, rabbits, and whatever else they could find for something other than hog meat. If the kids started looking "puny, " Grandma would send them out to scour the ditches for greens so that they would get some vitamins. For something sweet, they grew sorghum. There was one guy in the county who had a mill and he charged a share of the syrup for using it, you had to bring your own mule to run it though. For money to buy necessities, Grandma and the older kids would second-pick harvested cotton fields for cotton to sell. They did the same for harvested corn fields to feed the hogs. The family didn't have electricity, indoor plumbing, or running water until they moved north after Grandma got a job building bombers during WWII. Grandpa still farmed though, but now with a tractor. Grandma worked as a riveter at Boeing for 30 years. There are B-52s still flying that she helped build.

[brianwilliams]

I was homeless and lived in a tent in New England. There were times when I went days without food or water and the winter was anything but easy. I had times that I prayed to die before I turned 30.

[Mesenteric]

I’m barely surviving now, I don’t think a lack of indoor plumbing is going to help.

[josephmarciano]

Very old guy here: Your passion and erudition comes across like the best and most inspiring teachers I remember from school 60+ years. Thank you for doing what you do. And . . .Oh god for a shot penicillin!

[allfields]

I really appreciate the constant references to the diaries, journals and other writings of actual people from those times like William Byrd, Nicholas Cresswell, etc.

[macsarcule]

Could I survive the 18th century? I died 4 times just watching this.

Excellent video, Townsends team!

[lhead]

My 5X great grandfather was George Graham 1756-1840 he was born in 1756 in New Jersey. At the age of 17 he went to fight in the Revolutionary war and In 1776 he was shot in the thigh during the battle of long island. Even after everything he went through he fought on with a limp and lived to be 84 years old. After the war he got married and moved to Southwestern Pennsylvania where his family still resides. Looking back on everything that could have gone wrong and didn't it really gives you perspective on how good you really have things today.

[paulherman]

I'd have died as an infant. Born clubfooted in both legs, very serious asthma, allergic to horses.

[shawnaweesner]

The “bloody flux” in colonial times refers to Dysentery which was caused by “poor sanitation and contaminated drinking water” (google). It was very common and very deadly.

[katieandkevinsears]

If anyone here has kids, a cartoon series called Liberty's Kids from 2002 actually follows the Revolution from the perspective of three kids. Joseph Plumb Martin is actually in it too!

[toolmaster]

You're giving us the content I remember on PBS decades ago. My kids and I love watching your content.

[suem]

I can cook from scratch with 18th century techniques thanks to Townsends. I spin, weave, knit all fibers. I grow flax for linen plus all that takes to process.

We had a derecho which took out everything 21st century. Had my Townsend lanterns and could cook over a fire. Big favor we had running water! But I do keep big bottles of water in storage. Skills! Skills. Having basic survival skills and skills to swap.

[jeanzimmermann]

My 5th great grandfather was a 9 year old drummer boy during the revolution. He served with his 11 and 16 year old brothers in a unit separate from their father. They were Loyalists so by 1783 they were refugees in Quebec, Canada. When he was older he served in the War of 1812. He died at age 86 in Belleville, Ontario, Canada!

[robertpearson]

In my case I can say with near certainty that I wouldn’t have seen my 20th birthday. Some of my Swiss ancestors tried moving to a Swiss colony in North Africa (Algeria) in the 1850’s. After losing four of their eight children to cholera and typhoid in 1854 and 1855 they went back home. In the 1870’s they tried again and moved to Canada where one of them had 18 children and didn’t lose a single one. Luck played an important part.