Farmers and Fishermen: Two Centuries of Work in Essex County, Massachusetts, 1630-1850

by Daniel Vickers

Daniel Vickers examines the shifting labor strategies used by colonists as New England evolved from a string of frontier settlements to a mature society on the brink of industrialization. Lacking a means to purchase slaves or hire help, seventeenth-century settlers adapted the labor systems of Europe to cope with the shortages of capital and workers they encountered on the edge of the wilderness. As their world developed, changes in labor arrangements paved the way for the economic transformations of the nineteenth century. By reconstructing the work experiences of thousands of farmers and fishermen in eastern Massachusetts, Vickers identifies who worked for whom and under what terms. Seventeenth-century farmers, for example, maintained patriarchal control over their sons largely to assure themselves of a labor force. The first generation of fish merchants relied on a system of clientage that bound poor fishermen to deliver their hauls in exchange for goods. Toward the end of the colonial period, land scarcity forced farmers and fishermen to search for ways to support themselves through wage employment and home manufacture. Out of these adjustments, says Vickers, emerged a labor market sufficient for industrialization.

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction, United States, Economics

372 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1994

Reviews

[Paul]

In his book, Farmers & Fishermen: Two Centuries of Work in Essex County, Massachusetts, 1630 – 1850, Daniel Vickers describes the economic development of Essex County, Massachusetts from the earliest days of the colonies to the decade before the American Civil War. Vickers focuses mostly on the relationship between labor and capital throughout his work. The author dedicates the first half of his book to the scarcity of both labor and capital in the farming and fishing economies of Essex County. The second half of the book focuses on the maturation of the county’s economy.
Vickers analyses the relationship between labor and capital in the fishing and farming industries in Essex County, because they were the most important forms of economic activity in colonial Massachusetts. As such, these two industries generated a lot historical sources and lend themselves to historical analysis. The sources that Vickers uses in his book include first hand descriptions such as “journals, account books, and legal documents” created by the men and boys who provided the labor in the fishing and farming industries (11). These sources not only confirm Vicker’s argument but demonstrate that the settlers of Massachusetts were aware of the developments that Vicker’s observes. A great example is in the observation made by a local merchant of the sugar planters in the West Indies who were “so intent upon planting sugar that they had rather buy foode at very deare rates than produce it by labor” and were dependent on trade with outsiders for food (99).
The book is organized thematically and chronologically. The themes that Vickers discusses in his book include English economic values, New England’s farmers, New England’s fishermen, and manufacturing in New England during the early nineteenth century. Vickers lays the foundation for his work by analyzing the value system of the Puritans that settled New England. For the English of the seventeenth century the achievement of independence was a highly sought after goal. The most important aspect of independence was the ownership of land which made it possible to provide for oneself and one’s family. Secondary to the ownership of land was the accumulation of some level of wealth through offering services or goods in the market place. Though England was not fully capitalist in the seventeenth century, a general respect for the market and its power to determine prices prevailed.
The second theme that Vickers discusses in his book is the farmers of New England. He starts with an analysis of the rural economy the settlers of New England hoped to reproduce. In England land was scarce and labor was in high supply which depressed wages but the availability of capital made it possible to higher help when needed. The exact opposite relationship of land, labor, and capital prevailed in the New England from about 1630 to 1700. With labor in short supply, farmers found themselves highly dependent upon the labor of their sons to clear forests, plow fields, and gather the harvests. Despite the availability of land, the scarcity of capital and labor combined to make it difficult for sons to establish farms of their own resulting in later ages for marriage and the attainment of independence. The farming industry went through a transformation between 1700 and 1775. An increase in capital and population improved the chances for boys to establish independence early in life. This included marrying younger than their predecessors and acquiring property through transfer of title or purchase. Labor, which became much more plentiful during this period, usually took the form of exchanging services and resources rather than paid employment during this period. For example, a farmer might agree to plow a neighbor’s field in exchange for use of a cart to bring produce to market. By-employment emerged during this period of time as a way of bringing extra income into a household and, for sons, saving money to buy property. Young men were able to gain extra money by serving in the local militia at times, by working in the fishing industry, or producing consumer goods. Farming in New England entered a final phase of development from 1775 to 1850. This period saw a major shift in the farming practices as New England farmers struggled to compete with farmers in the Ohio Valley and New Englanders transitioned from trying to grow all the crops necessary to sustain life to specialization.
The other chief industry in New England was commercial fishing. In fact, the first settlers of New England intended on establishing a fishery in the region from the start but lacked the skills. The New England fishery struggled with a short supply of capital during its early period from 1630 – 1675 but took off during the English Civil War which disrupted the Newfoundland fishery. Fishermen during this period would be granted credit by a merchant to purchase supplies and the necessities of life in exchange for their catch during a given season. Most fishermen during this period worked in small boats and the catch was processed and dried on shore. The fishery experienced a major shift from 1675 - 1775. First, the boats in the fleet increased in size, the amount of time spent at sea increased as boats traveled further away from shore in search of cod, and most processing was done on ship. Second, the price of cod fell starting in 1675 and creditors became less confident the ability of fishermen to pay debts. This resulted in a drying up of credit and the emergence of a wage-based market labor for fishermen. Over all, during the first two periods, fishing was a young man’s job. The fishing industry went through a final phase from 1775 – 1850 characterized by diversification into fish other than cod, an increase of the age of fishermen, and the decline of the fishery after a storm destroyed much of the fleet in 1846 and manufacturing began attracting potential labor away from the fishery.
New England’s economy was also altered from 1775 – 1850 by the emergence of manufacturing which emerged largely from the necessity of import substitution during the American Revolution. The main industries that emerged during this period include shipbuilding and the manufacture of shoes. These industries dominated the manufacturing sector of the New England economy until the Civil War.

Question: Vickers places a great deal of emphasis on the intentions of the early Puritan settlers of Essex County, Massachusetts to reestablish the economic and social systems of seventeenth-century England and their failure to do so initially due to the short supply of labor and capital relative to land. This imbalance caused the early settlers to develop the countryside extensively rather than intensively as had been the case in their home country. The settlers were, however, in a relatively short period of time more successful than the settlers of any other colony in recreating their homeland in a new world. Vickers provides a great deal of information about the people and families that were involved in this development but says very little about the place of the local government. What was the place of local government in the promotion of economic development of Massachusetts?

[Andrea Welch]

Excellent information but a dry read.

[Dan Gorman]

Better than anticipated social history of labor in colonial Massachusetts. Vickers goes back and forth whether the Essex County economy was more British or American in character. Still, he makes it clear that, through the refinement of the maritime economy and, later, agriculture, Massachusetts colonists replicated England’s merchant class and urbanization, while laying the economic groundwork for eventual industrialization. Fishermen initially worked as clients for merchants, controlled through systems of debt and credit, but the innovation of deep-sea fishing vessels gave them the financial autonomy to escape the client system. Male farm patriarchs relied on their sons to farm the land, and sons relied on deeds or willed land from their fathers. Eventually, a lack of available land meant that sons had to settle the interior or embrace new professions. This laid the groundwork for employment in industry. The dream of economic independence weighed on all of these colonists. Labor diversification, the existing merchant class, and the free-agent status of fishermen laid the groundwork for industrialization. Vickers doesn't connect all the dots between pre- and post-industrialization; there are other trends boosting industrialization that go unmentioned in this book. The details about farm and fishing life, particularly seafaring perils, make the book more compelling to read than one might expect.

[Vive]

Really interesting read of the origins, relations, and foundations of colonial America & the perpetuated New England character. The book depicts labour relations in a wholly relatable and understandable way that, in terms of wage labour, is still prevalent and arguably problematic.

[Richard Subber]

A good reference work. Lots of people in colonial America worked real hard all their lives.

[Rachel]

This book is carefully researched and provides a strong overview of certain patterns of work in Essex County over a long period of time. I used it in an undergraduate class, however, and I don't think students connected with its somewhat dry economic history. Very good information, but a dense economic/social history. Not appropriate for those who dislike tables.