(STACKER) — Virginia was a very different place 150 years ago than it is now. In 1872, the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the United States had only been in effect for seven years and Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone patent was still four years away.
Most jobs back then were agricultural in nature, and the country was in the early stages of the industrial revolution at the time. Labor laws were also not as comprehensive as they are now, meaning that people often worked 7 days a week for 12 hours a day and children made up a large part of the workforce.
It’s easy to see how different life was in 1872 compared to today by looking at the most common jobs of the day, as well as the images on this list:
#1. farm workers
– Employment in Virginia: 162,604
– National employment: 2,885,996
— #2 most common job in the US
#two. Farmers and planters
– Employment in Virginia: 80,739
– National employment: 2,977,711
— #1 most common job in the US
#3. domestic servants
– Employment in Virginia: 54,008
– National employment: 975,734
— #4 most common job in the US
#4. Workers (unspecified)
– Employment in Virginia: 27,730
– National employment: 1,031,666
— #3 most common job in the US
#5. carpenters and carpenters
– Employment in Virginia: 6,912
– National employment: 344,596
— #5 most common job in the US
#6. Tobacco factory operators
– Employment in Virginia: 6,073
– National employment: 11,985
— #80 most common job in the US
#7. Smithy
– Employment in Virginia: 4,077
– National employment: 141,774
— #11 most common job in the US
#8. store clerks
– Employment in Virginia: 3,680
– National employment: 222,504
— #6 most common job in the US
#9. washerwomen and laundresses
– Employment in Virginia: 3,623
– National employment: 60,906
— #21 most common job in the US
#10. Fishermen and oystercatchers
– Employment in Virginia: 3,580
– National employment: 27,106
— #48 most common job in the US
#eleven. Tailors, tailors and seamstresses
– Employment in Virginia: 3,130
– National employment: 161,820
— #8 most common job in the US
#12. Shoe and boot manufacturers
– Employment in Virginia: 2,986
– National employment: 171,127
— #7 most common job in the US
#13. Employees of railway companies (not employees)
– Employment in Virginia: 2,944
– National employment: 154,027
— #9 most common job in the US
#14. Professors (unspecified)
– Employment in Virginia: 2,521
– National employment: 126,822
— #12 most common job in the US
#fifteen. Traders and distributors (unspecified)
– Employment in Virginia: 2,355
– National employment: 100,406
— #15 most common job in the US
In an effort to capture a snapshot of US labor market history, Stacker compiled a list of the most common jobs in Virginia from 150 years ago using data from the US Census Bureau by transcribing Table XXVII not previously transcribed from the 1870 decennial census, a statewide look at the historical labor market can be seen. Nationwide, farmers and planters were the most common occupation 150 years ago, just one of many farm jobs that made up more than 47% of all employed people over the age of ten.
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