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Traditionally, the American farmer has always been independent and hard-working. In the eighteenth century farmers were quite self-sufficient. The farm family grew and made almost nothing it needed. The surplus crop would be sold to buy a new __1__ items in the local general store.
In 1860, because some of the farm population had moved to __2__ the city, yet eighty percent of the American population was still in the country. In the late nineteen century, farm work and life __3__ were not much changed from that they had been in old days. The __4__ farmer aroused at dawn or before and had much work to do, with __5__ his own muscles like his chief source of power. He used axes, __6__ spades and other complicated tools. In his house cooking was done __7__ in wood-burning stoves, and the kerosene lamp was the only improvement on the candle. The family's recreation and social life chiefly consisted a drive in the wagon to the nearby small town or __8__ village to transact some business as well as to chat with neighbors who had also come to town.
The children attended a small elementary school (often of just one room) to that they had to walk every day, possibly for a __9__ few miles. The school term was short so that the children could not help on the farm. Although the whole family worked, and life __10__ was not easy, farmers as a class were self-reliant and independent.
