Unpacking the War of 1812 in Maryland

Elementary School Lesson

Maryland Military Historical Society- created by Glenn Johnson and Johanna Seymour

Copyright: 2013

Introduction

• What types of goods were produced in Maryland during the early 1800s?

• Who made them?

• How were they transported?

• What types of goods or items would a soldier need?

• Where would a soldier receive the needed goods/items?

List of Items Distributed to Soldier•  1 Musket, flintlock, Model 1795 Harper's Ferry with Maryland property

marks • 1 bayonet • 1 white shoulder sling• 1 cartridge box with turnscrew, oil

bottle, and flints) • 1 Knapsack • 1 Coatee, Pattern of 1812 • 1 pair Trousers made of Russia linen • 1 pair wool trousers for winter wear • 1 Shako, yeomanry style, with plume • 2-3 shirts• 2-3 pairs Stockings • 1 stock (worn around neck as a shirt

closure)

• 1 pair common shoes • 1 pair black gaiters • Pipe clay for polishing white

leather items• Black ball for polishing black

leather items• 2 polishing brushes• 1 blanket • 1 wooden bowl • 1 tin cup • 1 set, knife, fork, and spoon • 1 wooden canteen • 1 haversack • Rations consisting of salt pork and

salt beef, ship's biscuit, peas, rice, cheese, butter, chocolate, coffee, candles

Dress like a soldier

• Teachers click on Maryland Military Museum’s video that shows a militia soldier getting dressed. Also shows all items in haversack and knapsack.

• Video needs to be created. (5 Minutes)

Lesson Rationale

• Students will explore items that a militia soldier would carry to better understand the economics of Maryland during the early 1800’s.

• Items being passed around: Musket Lock, Cartridge Box, Linen trousers and Wool Trousers, salt pork and biscuit.– Three general categories, weapons, clothing,

and food

Flintlock Musket• Made at Harper’s Ferry Federal Arsenal. • Made to a standard pattern, set by federal government. • Very advanced equipment used in its manufacture. • Local people worked at the factory. Hourly wages,

production line operation (did not make a product from start to finish). Worked long hours, no laws yet against limiting the work day or improving working conditions.

• Arsenal was much smaller than the large factories in operation by the mid-19th century. Few factories existed nationwide in 1812-1814.

• Finished muskets shipped by boat eastward/southwestward or on National Road (via wagons) westward.

US Musket, Model 1795 marked Harpers Ferry, the place of manufacture, 1809, the year of manufacture, and an eagle, representing Federal issue

The National Road- when completed in 1839.

Connected to Baltimore via a series of existing roads.

Rivers used by Harper’s Ferry Arsenal to transport finished muskets.

Leather and Wood Items

• Need photo from Museum’s collection.

Leather and Wood Products- Cartridge Box, Shoes, Wooden Canteens, Wooden Bowls, Wooden Barrels (for food)

• In 1808 the federal government set standards for army cartridge boxes. Other leather and wood items were made to standards as well.

• Regimental agents visited small businesses to fill the orders. The agent would provide an example of the needed product for the artisans to make.

• These small businesses would become contractors. In these small shops, fewer employees than in factories. Most of the workers were male apprentices, artisans in training, or journeymen, who knew how to create the product from start to finish. Journeymen hoped to own their own shop one day (as a Master) or hire themselves as skilled tradesmen (higher wages than unskilled laborers). In a shop, they did not work for wages but for a share of the profit. Apprentices and journeymen often worked alongside and lived with masters. Still, as masters of the house and shop, Masters could discipline their apprentices and prevent them from enlisted.

• These small businesses were eager for federal contracts. They already produced these types of products but on a smaller scale. Federal contracts called for large numbers of items, and were thus quite lucrative.

• Due to demand and the limited abilities of small shops, a regimental agent had to sign contracts with numerous shops.

• Thankfully, small businesses, such as , tailors or shoe-makers (cobblers), had existing relationships with other businesses, such as button makers, who became sub-contractors.

• Since everyone in Baltimore needed shoes and clothing, there were a lot of tailors and cobblers in business who could take government orders.

Leather Process• Farmers raised and slaughtered animals then sold hides to tanners.• Tanners finished the leather then sold to leather-goods shops such

as saddlers and harness makers, where workers turned the hides into finished products based on patterns set by the federal government, such as the 1808 pattern cartridge box

• The regimental agent would pick up and pay for the products when finished then bring them to his troops where the quartermaster would distribute them.

• Items shipped from the shops to the troops via wagons or small boats. Wagons and small boats business owners and workers also enjoyed the increased need for their services. They could charge by the amount of the good shipped and the distance it traveled.

• Baltimore sat at the intersection of several highways, and had an excellent harbor that was the home port of hundreds of ships.

Tannery- Circa 1880’s

Linen and WoolWhat is this plant?

How did this plant become clothing?

Whose hair becomes wool clothing? How?

Linen and Wool (Clothing)

• Farmers grew flax and sheep. Flax fibers from the stem are strong enough to weave.

• Farmers sold both semi-finished flax thread and spun wool to weavers.

•Weavers would weave both flax and wool into bolts of fabric.

• Wholesalers, would buy bolts of fabric.

• Wholesalers would sell fabric to tailors or small shops or sometimes the regimental agent directly (if the unit had its own tailors). Sometimes a tailor would bypass the wholesaler and buy directly from a weaver.

• Agent would create contracts with tailors and small shops. Again, mostly small shops with apprentices as workers, who shared in the profits. Tailors would turn the fabric into finished items that were made according to a set pattern

• Finished clothing would ship via wagon or small boat. Quartermasters distributed clothing to unit.

Modern-Day Bolts of Fabric

Rations (Food) for Troops• Examples: ships biscuit• Troops needed food that would not easily spoil.• Food locally made. Farmers grew wheat to make flour. • Flour sold to grist mills. Mills processed flour. • Processed flour sold to bakeries. The cheapest, most unprocessed flour would

become ships biscuit. • Ships biscuit was used both on ships and by armies on land.• Regimental agents contracted local bakeries for biscuits. • Throughout 1814, Maryland’s Committee of Safety and Vigilance contracted with

Baltimore bakers to produce enough ships biscuit for the soldiers to eat• Again, bakeries worked like small shops with a Master and apprentices. • Meat: Salt pork from local farms. Pigs slaughtered in the Fall (when they are the

fattest) and cut into one pound chucks. Pork then boiled with salt. Salt was imported, usually from the Azores Island (off the coast of Portugal). Salt preserved pork without refrigerated. Boiling also sterilized meat.

• Salted pork was preserved throughout winter in wooden barrels. Farmers bought wooden barrels from coopers. Coopers bought wood from sawyers, how cut trees down and sawed them into planks for market.

• Regimental agents bought barrels of salt pork from farmers, transported via wagons or small boats.

• Before a regiment marched, the quartermaster issued rations to soldiers. Soldiers typically ate one pound of ships biscuit, one pound of salt pork or beef, and one pint of dried peas per day.

A Grist Mill

Modern-Day Cooper

Discussion- OneShops vs. Factories

• How did these hourly workers differ from apprentices in shops?

• What would be the advantages and disadvantages to being an hourly work?

• Which workers enjoyed more free time? • Which type of worker may care more about

producing a quality product? Why?• How would the relationship between hourly

worker/boss be different than that of apprentice? • Why would the federal government want to

centralize production and have a set standard?

Discussion- Two

Linen vs. Wool/ Large vs. Small Shops• Which material would soldiers like to wear

in summer/winter?• How might larger shops have an

advantage in securing federal contracts?• Why might a tailor skip the wholesaler and

buy directly from the weaver? Why might a weaver prefer selling a wholesaler instead of an individual weaver?

Discussion- ThreeRations

• How might large plantations with slave labor have an advantage over family farms in securing large government contracts?

• Why would farms, like shops, want to invest in new technology?

• What challenges may arise when transporting crops to soldiers?

• Why might it be easier for large farms to ship goods internationally than within Maryland?

Class-work

• Write eight sentences explaining the Maryland economy during the early 1800’s. Highlight goods/objects that a soldier would use.

• While writing, the teacher will pass around the other objects in the kit.

• Teacher will collect class-work at the end of class or tomorrow as homework.

Photo

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Linum_usitatissimum_capsules,_vlas_zaadbollen.jpg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:National_road_map.png

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harpers_Ferry_National_Park_map.svg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Winter_Fair_Wool_2.jpg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stoffballen2_fcm.jpg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lohgerber_1880.jpg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cooper1.jpg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flour_mill_20050723_001.jpg

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Decew_Falls.JPG