Child Mortality

In the Seventeenth century, no inoculations or vaccinations yet existed. Diseases such as pox, plague, and tuberculosis were deadly and incurable.

Therefore, the child mortality rate was about 50%. That means that 1 out of 2 children died as children.

In other words, childhood death was an extremely common experience. Sometimes these deaths would happen rather quickly. As a result, one of the prayers found in the New England Primer went like this:

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

If I should DIE before I wake

I pray the Lord my soul to take

This prayer was very practical and realistic in the 17th century.

Given the fact that death was so very close to every child, the Puritans were determined to make sure their children were prepared for it. This explains why the New England Primer is permeated with the Grim Reaper and morbid prayers.

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