In many ways the lives indentured servants led in the colonies was seemingly privileged compared to that of a slaves. An indentured servant was an individual who had exchanged a predetermined number of years in servitude to their new masters (Faragher 2009, p. 55). Some indentured servants worked out the terms of their agreement prior to arrival. While some of the less fortunate servants were sold in a fashion similar to that of a slave (cummings, 1995). The servants who had pre-established contracts were transferred to their new masters after payment was rendered for their passage to the New World (Faragher 2009, p. 55). The term in which the servant was indebted was usually two to seven years (Faragher 2009, p. 55). However, the Masters had the upper hand because they could expand the length of servitude in accordance to bad behaviors, such as running away or becoming pregnant ("Colonial america,").
Advantages of indentured servants to the master were mainly monetary. Indentured servants were considerably cheaper in comparison to the purchase of slave. With that being said indentured servants were often subjected to some form of cruelty or brutality (Faragher 2009, p. 56). Incidentally, in many cases slaves received more humane treatment because they were seen as a lifetime investment ("Colonial america,”).
Freedom was primarily the main reward for an indentured servant (Faragher 2009, p. 56). Servants were entitled to a variety of minuscule rights, one of which was their access to the courts. In contrast they were subjected to many restrictions, such as: couldn’t vote, needed permission to marry, sometimes forbidden to leave the house and could not buy or sell anything. (cummings, 1995). Upon comp...
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...a slave at the time their child was born. It was at the discretion of their master if a child born of a slave woman would to bear the indignity of becoming a slave.
To summarize, indentured servants held few liberties but were often subjected to the same if not worse brutality as slaves. Unlike slaves, they had a fixed term of time they were to serve and then were to be set free. The rise of slavery over indentured servants was a result of land and labor issues.
Works Cited
Faragher, John Mack et al (2009). Out of many: a history of the American people (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Cumming, (1995, December). Indentured servants' experiences 1600-1700. Retrieved from http://www.teachervision.fen.com/slavery-us/resource/3848.html
Colonial america. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1157.html
They preferred African slaves to European or Native American slaves because they "could be held for unlimited terms, and there was no means by which word of harsh or arbitrary treatment could reach their homelands" (Wood, 43). The ability of the Englishmen to hold slaves for an unlimited amount of time and to use any methods of punishment gave them all the power. The indentured servant only worked to fulfill the previous contract as part of the headright system. Colonists "complained of the 'servants that dayley become free"(41). Since the servants had varying terms of service, it made it difficult to keep enough workers. Native Americans were cheap and did not have to be imported, but knew the land better than the Englishmen and could easily escape. There was also a language barrier and they died relatively quick, which made them not worth the investment. This shows some insight into how the African population started to become
Morrison, Samuel E. The Oxford History of the American People, vol. 1. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994. Sun Tzu.
Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
There are many aspects contributing to the rise of slavery and decline of indentured servitude. The beginning of slavery started when Columbus invaded Hispaniola and enslaved the Arawaks . This was the first time people thought to enslave people against their will for labor. Hard labor and diseases nearly killed off their race, essentially concluding that they were no longer available candidates for labor. Indentured servitude was used as bait to lure people into enslavement and eventually began to fade due to multiple historical events, such as The Bacon Rebellion . African Americans became an easy target because they were less prone to diseases and their bodies were capable of such intense and difficult labor. As slavery began to rise in popularity certain laws were passed through Congress that supported slavery.
The role of an indentured servant in the 1700s was not a glamorous one. They came to the New World knowing that, for a time, they would be slaves for someone they did not know and the risk of disease and death was high, but the opportunity that laid ahead of them after their time of servitude was worth everything to these settlers of the New World. They came to America for the same reasons as all of the other settlers. Religious freedom, land, wealth, and a new start were motives for both settlers and indentured servants but the one thing separating most settlers from the indentured servants was that they could afford their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Indentured servants couldn’t buy their ticket to the New World, but that didn’t stop
Divine, Robert A. America past and Present. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education/Longman, 2013. 245. Print.
4) Indentured servitude: Many of them, as “indentured servants,”voluntarily mortgaged the sweat of their bodies for several years to Chesapeake masters. In exchange they received
Indentured servitude was the institutional arrangement devised to increase labor mobility from Europe (particularly England) to America, and it was the labor system that preceded American slavery. Its emergence in Virginia in the seventeenth century can be seen as a development expedient to the circumstances surrounding the colony. Indentured servitude was practically the only way in which a poor person could get to the colonies and planters could be supplied with cheap labor. Richard Frethorne's document written in 1623, The Experiences of an Indentured Servant, legalized the master-servant relationship, specified the kind of labor to be performed, the length of time to be served, and the dues owed to the servant at the completion of his term.
The slave trade into the United States began in 1620 with the sale of nineteen Africans to a colony called “Virginia”. These slaves were brought to America on a Dutch ship and were sold as indentured slaves. An Indentured slave is a person who has an agreement to serve for a specific amount of time and will no longer be a servant once that time has passed, they would be “free”. Some indentured slaves were not only Africans but poor or imprisoned whites from England. The price of their freedom did not come free.
Indentured Servants helped the colonies progress their population. England at the time was over populated, and jobs were hard to find. So many people that could not afford the boat trip over to America offered themselves as to be an indentured servant for a period of time. This contractual term can last from between four to seven years. Many colonists preferred having indentured servants over slaves, cause they also helped ward off Native Americans from attacking settlers. The one big draw back of indentured servant was that they usually did not make it pass the first year of their contract.
To begin, the first colonies used indentured servitude to ensure steady economic growth with tobacco in the New World. Indentured servitude were a less effective method for labor in the colonies because servants would have usually come to the New World, served their contracts, and then released after a short time. Slave systems became an alluring solution for the colonies as indentured servitude declined. The need for the slave system became apparent and a necessity for the colonies’ growth. Slave owners, who were thriving financially from their farms and businesses, began to justify the use of the slave systems through the consolidation of race and racism. Slave owners argued that slaves were intellectually and biologically inferior because of the color of their skin. Of the many examples that allowed slavery to foster in colonial America, one example would be the “Acts Defining Slavery” by the Virginia General Assembly. These acts were laws that set precedence and authorized the legality of slavery in the colony, which were reprehensible. For example, “all children borne, shall be held bond or free according to the condition of the mother”, which was Act XII (1662) that condemned any child that was born by an African mother to be enslaved (105). The change in thinking that was reflected in this time period demonstrated a shift of labor force and formalizing race and racism. As the colonies’ prosperity blossomed economically from slavery, it moved towards the notion for freedom and independence from Britain through political and revolutionary
misery in no less than 32 children in our ship, all of whom were thrown into the sea.” (Gottlieb Mittelberger, Journey to Pennsylvania in the Year 1750). Once the indentured servants arrived to their destination, they would sign a contract in agreement to serve their designated master. There was no relationship between a master and a servant. It was in agreement that the servant would work
Norton, Beth, et al. A People and a Nation. 8th. 1. Mason, OH: 2009. 41-42, 65-67,161,173.
Documents two, three, and fourteen talk about what it was like for people who came to work as indentured servants. It is important to know that many servants were needed to help with the large task of clearing land, constructing buildings and working for craftsmen. “There was a necessity of employing a great Number of Hands, for clearing the Land, being over-grown with wood for some hundred miles” (Source 2, Page 42). Indentured servants could be employed in a variety of trades working for craftsmen or as servants in gentlemen’s homes. This time of servitude lasted for a few years and then the person became free. “When one has finished his or her term, he or she is entitled to a new suit of clothes at parting; and if it has been so stipulated, a man gets in addition a horse, a woman, a cow” (Source 3, Page 44). This sounds promising to someone hoping to start over in a new
Foner, Eric and John A. Garraty. The Reader’s Companion to American History. (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991).