As discussed in my previous post, a torp was a small house with arable land. A backstuga or back cabin was a small house without arable land. A backstugusittare or back cabin sitter was a man who lived in a backstuga.
A backstuga was built on common village land, often on the "fägatan" or cattle path, which was common land set aside for the grazing of cattle. They could also be built on private land with the permission of the land owner. However, unlike a torpare, the backstugisittare was not under contract to perform any work. The space in which a backstuga was built was more or less given as an act of charity to the backstugisittare. If a backstuga was built on privately owned land it would have been located near the forest or on the extreme outskirts of the estate.
Backstuga, literally translated, means "slope cottage", as many were built into the slope of a hill.
As time went on, the definition changed to refer to any small house without attached farm land. They were very small, not much more than about 200 sq. ft., and usually just one room. Although there was no land surrounding the backstuga to do actual farming, the backstugusittare usually had a small kitchen garden where he could grow some potatoes and a few vegetables. Certainly there was not enough land to support any animals.
Through the 18th century, the poorest of the poor typically lived in backstugas: the abandoned elderly and widows, the drunkards, the disabled, and the shunned women with illegitimate children. But into the 19th century the demographic shifted to include anyone who did not earn his living through farming and who lived in a dwelling without arable land. In addition to the very poor, local craftsmen, with multiple levels of income, were also considered to be backstugusittare. Regardless of their income level and value to the community, since a backstugusittare paid no taxes (as that was the responsibility of the land owner) they were disliked by the government and subjected to social shaming.
There were many circumstances which could land an individual or a family into a backstuga. There were former farmhands who wanted to marry but hadn't saved up enough money to start or take over a torp. There were torpare who failed, often due to illness, and lost their contract with the land owner. There were widowed women of deceased torpare who were unable to perform the duties required and forced out of their homes. There were children of torpare who did not inherit the father's torp and were not able to acquire a torp of their own. There were pensioned-off soldiers who were no longer supported by the rote and no longer entitled to remain in the soldattorp. And, of course, alcohol abuse has always been something which destroys someone's ability to live a productive life.
Some were better off than others depending on the availability of work and the generosity of the people around them. A backstugusittare was generally a day laborer, dependent on local farmers who could offer them odd jobs in exchange for a little money or payment in kind. There was usually always work for them during the planting and harvesting seasons. Some who were craftsmen - tailors, shoemakers, etc. - could actually fare quite well. Those who were unable to work due to lack of physical or mental ability or lack of skills could only hope to survive by begging. Most all of them could freely pick wild berries while in season, they could freely hunt small animals and birds, and they could gather firewood for free from the forest.
As hard as life was for an indigent backstugusittare, the hardest part for some was constantly dealing with uncertainty, never knowing from day to day if there would be work, food, or continued health. They could often be one day away from complete devastation.
Believe it or not, things could have been worse. It's been said that life in a backstuga could often be better than living in the slums of a city where cramped, filthy conditions bred disease. At least a backstugusittare could grow some of his own food and his children had the benefit of fresh air in which to play. It could also have been better that that of a "statare" who was paid in kind to work at a large estate. A statare had to be married and his wife and children were also required to work. Often the wife would be put to work milking a large number of cows 3 times a day - day after day after endless day. This was called "the white hell."
Both the torpare and backstugusittar were considered low class in society, but, because the torp was essential to agricultural and everyone's survival, a torpare had at least a little respectability within the community. This was generally not true for a backstugusittar. In 1853 an observer wrote, "These backstugas...constitute a real national nuisance everywhere. They contribute nothing to the country's productivity: its inhabitants constitute a kind of resident beggar, a possessed mob, with whom traitors and criminals often find refuge and participation. If you want to see laziness, ugliness and often immorality in all its ugliness, then you enter one of these nests..." Whether or not this was true of all backstugusittar, this was the general perception.
After the big land reform during the early 19th century, many of the backstuga on public land went away when village housing was disbanded and what was once common village land was divided up among land owners. At the new owner's discretion, backstugas could be raised and the surrounding area completely repurposed.
For centuries, every governmental and social system in Sweden was stacked against the poor. They were despised by the government and exploited by the wealthy. As hard as it was to acquire enough resources to feed and clothe a family when work was scarce and compensation was meagerly unfair, living on alms and the goodwill of others was demoralizing and humiliating. It wasn't until mass emigration to America limited the local labor markets, and new laws were enacted which offered better protection to all, that the descendants of the poor were finally able to choose to climb the ladder of success.
Sources and more information can be found here, here, here, and here.
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