Threads of History

Upon entering the house on the Revolution-era farm at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, our visitors almost immediately recognize the various spinning wheels and the weavers loom that are present. However, they may not realize that this technology has been around for centuries prior to the war and that both free and enslaved farmers could be equally skilled in the art of spinning and weaving.

With a closer look and perhaps a try at the walking wheel or the flax wheel with one of our living-history interpreters, they begin to understand the steady hand and expertise that is involved in spinning flax, cotton or wool into thread or yarn that could one day move over to the loom for the weaving of fabric or be used for another household need like yarn for knitting and darning, or thread for sewing and needlepoint.

Apprenticeships of five to seven years were typical to be considered a professional weaver, however, weaving became more common for Indigenous, free and enslaved peoples across the colonies during the war. The effects of seeking American independence and going to war with Great Britain were many, including losing the ability to acquire imported goods that most households were familiar with purchasing at storefronts in Yorktown and Williamsburg.

Fabric had become much more expensive and, in some instances, unavailable to middle-class farmers in Virginia, so families turned to the production of their own linen and wool fabrics and threads on a very small scale. While unable to meet all their own needs, families on the homefront managed to patch and extend the life of clothing and bedding, sacrificed and became more self-reliant as way of supporting our fight for independence.

—Gretchen Johnson, Revolution-era Farm Supervisor —Homer Lanier, Visitor Experience Manager