The Struggle Of An Indentured Servant By James Revel

The Struggle of an Indentured Servant

The experiences that Richard Frethorne endured were in a lot of ways similar to those of James Revel. Both suffered from sickness and disease, lack of resources such as clothes and shelter, and most unfortunately limited access to food. The big distinction between these two, however, is that Frethorne was shipped to the New World on his own accord in hopes of a free and better life. While Revel was forcibly shipped as a felon, sent in punishment to serve his sentence in slavery. Not much is known of Frethorne’s past, but it is safe to assume that he came from a poor background and was shipped to the New World in hopes of a more promising life. He writes to his parents about the profound amount of

While scholars are quick to argue the authenticity of the truth behind Revel’s poem, the struggles described have some resemblance to Frethorne’s letters home. Unlike Richard, we learned that James came from a decent upbringing and was given necessities such as food and clothes (344). His transport appeared to be less traumatic than Frethorne experienced, stating that only five “of our number in our passage died” (345) and once they arrived were able to bathe and clean up so they were more appealing to potential buyers. Revel explains that the men came up to examine them “like horses” (345) viewing their hands legs and feet, and he was eventually chosen to make his way to his new master’s home. He reports that the clothing given to him was bare (345), this seemed to be more than Frethorne was afforded as someone who wasn’t a felon. Revel was forced to work alongside black slaves, and his master was described as requiring rigorous and long work weeks. However when his master died, he was sold to a new master who treated him very well and eventually shipped him back to his family after being well behaved

While writing a letter to his son, he begins to explain his reasoning for writing in a somewhat formal fashion, stating what he felt was the purpose of his life. His light hearted nature would show through when he lightly mocked previous statements he had written. He shows a lot of pride in all of the accomplishments he had made in his life. He refers to his past mistakes as ‘errata’ which is a term used for correcting printing mistakes. This suggests that he simply viewed his errors in life as easily replaced with the greater things he has gone on to do. He stressed the importance of hard work and that it would certainly lead to greatness and wealth. In part two, a seemingly older Franklin focuses his tone away from entertaining himself and his son. He goes on to explain a series of models and virtues that would lead to a happy and fulfilling life. Lastly in part three, a slightly older Franklin encourages people so stop thinking in self-interest and to join together to encourage social