Coins are made of gold, silver and copper. Few people receive mail, and if they do, they have to pay the postage. Stamps, purchased by the sender, were not sold in the U.S. until 1847. People travel by foot, horseback, carriage, stagecoach, and, in winter, sleigh. Quill pens made from the shaft of a feather are used for writing.
Few people own books other than the Bible.
Many, especially women and girls, do not have sufficient literacy skills to read a book or a newspaper or write much more than their name. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison serve as Presidents. In 1814, townspeople offered Mary Lyon her first teaching job at a summer school in Shelburne Falls, a town next to Buckland. She was 17 years old. Female teachers were especially in demand due to a growth in population and large numbers of men moving west in search of better opportunities.