(STACKER) — Virginia was a very different place 150 years ago than it is now. In 1872, the 13th amendment abolishing slavery in America had only been in place for seven years and the patent for Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone was still four years away.
The majority of jobs back then were agricultural in nature, with the country in the very early stages of the industrial revolution at the time. Labor laws were also not nearly as comprehensive as they are now, meaning people often worked 7-day weeks for 12 hours a day and children made up a large part of the workforce.
It’s easy to tell how different life was in 1872 compared to now by looking at the most common jobs of the day as well as the images in this list:
#1. Agricultural laborers
– Virginia employment: 162,604
– National employment: 2,885,996
— #2 most common job in the U.S.
#2. Farmers and planters
– Virginia employment: 80,739
– National employment: 2,977,711
— #1 most common job in the U.S.
#3. Domestic servants
– Virginia employment: 54,008
– National employment: 975,734
— #4 most common job in the U.S.
#4. Laborers (not specified)
– Virginia employment: 27,730
– National employment: 1,031,666
— #3 most common job in the U.S.
#5. Carpenters and joiners
– Virginia employment: 6,912
– National employment: 344,596
— #5 most common job in the U.S.
#6. Tobacco-factory operatives
– Virginia employment: 6,073
– National employment: 11,985
— #80 most common job in the U.S.
#7. Blacksmiths
– Virginia employment: 4,077
– National employment: 141,774
— #11 most common job in the U.S.
#8. Clerks in stores
– Virginia employment: 3,680
– National employment: 222,504
— #6 most common job in the U.S.
#9. Launderers and laundresses
– Virginia employment: 3,623
– National employment: 60,906
— #21 most common job in the U.S.
#10. Fishermen and oystermen
– Virginia employment: 3,580
– National employment: 27,106
— #48 most common job in the U.S.
#11. Tailors, tailoresses, and seamstresses
– Virginia employment: 3,130
– National employment: 161,820
— #8 most common job in the U.S.
#12. Boot and shoe makers
– Virginia employment: 2,986
– National employment: 171,127
— #7 most common job in the U.S.
#13. Employees of railroad companies (not clerks)
– Virginia employment: 2,944
– National employment: 154,027
— #9 most common job in the U.S.
#14. Teachers (not specified)
– Virginia employment: 2,521
– National employment: 126,822
— #12 most common job in the U.S.
#15. Traders and dealers (not specified)
– Virginia employment: 2,355
– National employment: 100,406
— #15 most common job in the U.S.
In an effort to capture a snapshot of the U.S. job market’s history, Stacker compiled a list of the most common jobs in Virginia from 150 years ago using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. By transcribing the previously untranscribed Table XXVII from the 1870 decennial census, a state-level glimpse into the historic job market can be seen. Nationally, farmers and planters were the most common occupation 150 years ago, just one of the many agricultural jobs that made up more than 47% of all employed persons over ten years old.