What sports did colonists play?

Answer 1

Horse racing, hunting, foot races, dice games, Chess, are games that came with them . Sports like Basketball and football will not be invented until the late 1880's. Baseball was invented in 1860.

Answer 2

Letters and diaries of Revolutionary soldiers are the best source for information on what sports activities they did. Soldiers had to be inventive to amuse themselves so one activity was designed for military purposes and to give them a sense of courage under fire. A reward was given for the capture of each British cannonball fired from the Boston batteries at the American lines in 1775. Chasing and getting the cannonballs became a sport as men raced and scrambled for them. Wrestling was forbidden and there was very little competition between units. The officers seemed to have wanted to direct all hostilities towards the British. Sports are a leisure activity and living in the colonies required a great deal of time to just survive and make a living. Washington encouraged his troops to have sports. Wicket was one sport that was played and there is evidence that cricket was played at Valley Forge. The first type of baseball was also played and a game called shinny which is like Field Hockey. A ball game that got very little attention was football, but Nathan Hale recorded in his diary he played football on November 8, 1775. Football in this time was a running and kicking game whose rules and style varied from place to place. Another game called fives was a handball type of game and nine pins a bowling game was played. Sometimes they substituted cannonballs for the bowling ball. Shuffle board was played, but boxing was not a familiar sport in America. Congress discouraged horse racing during the revolution as being frivolous during war and the army needed horses for practical purposes. They passed a resolution in 1774 and another in 1778 recommending no horse racing. In winter months soldiers would have snowball fights and sledding, but skating wasn't common. In the summer many felt that swimming was unhealthy ( including Washington) and it was discouraged. He even went so far as to order no swimming and posted sentinels at swimming places. There is evidence that social structure determined what sports were played and officers engaged in sports with other officers and not with enlisted men.

Answer 3

Wicket was one of the sports played during the American Revolution. Other sports played included searching for and bringing back cannon balls, and wrestling.

Answer 4

sports.