Children were valued members of the community in Colonial America. Their labor was important, both on farms and in towns and cities.
Large families were common. Six or more children in a family was not unusual. A Boston printer named Green had 30 offspring! However, almost half of all children died before the age of six. Diphtheria, whooping cough, smallpox, and other diseases were common childhood killers. Those children who survived led lives far different from yours.
