What is a Hatchet?
(a tool used for chopping, also used as a weapon) Remind the students that a hatchet was used by the settlers who first came to America and by the Native Americans they found living here. A hatchet was a useful tool but it could also be used as a weapon. If the hatchet was considered a weapon, to bury it meant to put an end to the fighting that could occur with it. Over the years the phrase bury the hatchet came to mean the end of fighting, or peace. Tell the students that bury the hatchet can also mean to end an ongoing disagreement. People may carry a grudge about a particular incident for years, when they bury the hatchet they are saying that they are willing to let go of the past and forget the cause of their quarrel. You may wish to tell the students that the phrases let bygones be bygones and forgive and forget are similar phrases and take a few moments to discuss the meaning of each. Ask the students if they can relate this phrase to any modern situations. Are there “grudge” mat
Hatchets are often described as a small ax that can be utilized with the use of one hand rather than two. Featuring a handle that is often half the length of the standard ax handle, the hatchet is a handy tool that can be used for a number of smaller jobs, such as cutting through thick shrubs or small limbs. Along with use in woodcutting, the hatchet has historically been used for other tasks around the home, as well as a weapon. Hatchets were often used in frontier settings as a tool that could be used for a number of chores around the home. A hatchet is ideal for splitting sections of kindling into smaller sections, as well as cutting through small sections of wood, such as a young tree. In a time when many people hunted and killed game for use at the dinner table, the hatchet was also a great tool to use in cutting through the bone or cartilage of a deer carcass. Even with domestic animals, the hatchet would be just the right size to use in severing the heads from chickens, or as pa
