Indentured Servants In The 1600s

When you last heard from me, it was about two months when I first boarded the ship. The voyage was normal at first, the only discomfort being the number of passengers traveling with me. The reason for the overcrowding was due to the passengers hoping they can experience a new life for not only themselves, but also their family and friends. This was my intention too. After a couple of weeks at sea, there was a massive storm that threw the ship off course. Thankfully there were no fatalities, however an abundance of the crew members were injured and unable to fulfill their duties till we reached shore. The officials of the ship did not plan for such an extraordinary event to occur, so there was a massive food shortage. We ran into more storms as time passed, however

For example, indenture servants were immigrants from Europe who came to America seeking a better life. As oppose to slaves that were taken from their homeland and forced into slavery. Second, indentured servants had contracts where they had to work four to seven years in exchange for paid passage, room, loggings, and freedom dues. As oppose to slavery, slaves were forced into ships, chain and beaten into submission to go to America and become cheap labor for a life time.

Even though the German has mixed experiences with Pennsylvania, the indentured servants, women and slaves were the ones that could not see best out of Pennsylvania. The indentured servants were bound to their masters when they arrived in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for them, they were considered unfree rather than a “freemen” (39). These servants were usually held for four years then exchanged for payment to be sold to a new masters. Luckily for the indentured servants they were not unfree permanently in Pennsylvania. They had a chance to become a freemen and see the best side of Pennsylvania that everyone talks about.

Indentured servitude, the practice of signing oneself into a slave-like servitude for an agreed upon amount of time in exchange for various provisions, was widely popular in early Massachusetts as a way for American people to build a workforce and immigrants to migrate to the New World. Indentured men, women, and children, largely from Europe, became a crucial part of the fabric of the society, culture, and economy of this state and the city of Boston. Boston’s economy was shaped by immigrant indentured servants due to their vast impact in building the city to begin with, as well as the practice allowing for immigrant communities to be established in America.

Most of history is seen through the eyes of those of privilege, education, and wealth: royalty, nobility, and merchants. There were those of less fortune or lower class that were educated enough to be able to record their experiences and points-of-view, but they were far and few between. Especially in early America, from immigrants, slaves, free blacks, natives, and indentured servants. “In Defense of the Indians” by Bartolome de La Casa, “An Indentured Servant’s Letter Home” by Richard Frethorne, “Ads for Runaway Servants and Slaves”, “The Irish in America” by John Francis Maguire, and “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass are by or about the natives, slaves, indentured servants, and immigrants in the early

I am enlightened by your desire to come join me here in Jamestown, but life has been a never ending roller coaster as the years slowly pass by. Some days I wonder if leaving the slums to avoid my peasant status was worth risking making an attempt at creating a new life in Jamestown. I have trouble falling asleep as I am persistently worrying about whether or not I will wake up the next morning, or if I will die in my sleep during a surprise Indian attack. Even tobacco alone cannot soothe my nerves and paranoia, nor can the money that has been produced from the tobacco market keep my mind in a state of peace. Even though the colony has recently prospered from the blooming tobacco business, I would strongly recommend for you all to refrain from coming here unless you enjoy an indentured servant life, constant Native American threats, and terrible living conditions.

These colonies came across numerous hardships with war, famine, and political turmoil, in the 1600’s. These colonies worked for commercial purposes and neglected the need for relationship building with natives, safety, and resource gathering, so much so that they lost many early settlers. Working as an indentured servant was brutal in these colonies. Growing, storing, and packaging tobacco was very labor intensive work. Though indentured servants maintained contracts providing them with food, housing, and clothing, often times terms of service were lengthened. Being a woman in these areas was also scary due to its mostly bachelor

During the American colonial period, slavery was legal and practiced in all the commercial nations of Europe. The practice of trading in and using African slaves was introduced to the United States by the colonial powers, and when the American colonies received their common law from the United Kingdom, the legality of slavery was part of that law.

The New York Historical Society (n.d.) states, “historically New York has been considered the capital of American liberty, hosting monuments devoted to freedom and promoting economic ambition as well as diversity; however, it is also, paradoxically, the capital of American slavery.” Slavery in New York started in the 1600s when the Dutch West India Company brought African slaves to what is today New York (GSA, n.d.). During the 17th and 18th-century, slavery was considered an investment and according to the New York Historical Society (n.d.), “almost every businessman in the 18th-century had a stake in the traffic of human beings.” Slaves improved the economy, they produced sugar, tobacco, indigo, coffee, chocolate, and cotton, which permitted

During the time of the 1650’s the Americas were not a part of what is now the United States and other countries in Central America and as well as the Caribbean. During those years European countries who were dominate in exploring the world and conquering new lands were the British, Spanish, French and the Dutch. The world economy was greatly impacted by the production of goods the Americas could provide Europe and even parts of Asia. The America’s were rich in materials that could not be made vastly, like the production of cotton, crops, tobacco and as well as natural gems like gold and silver that would increase wealth of the country who was exploring the region at the time. The British crown at the time was a powerful nation and if not the most powerful in wealth and military with great number of troops and

Indentured servitude set the foundation for slavery in the early colonies. Indentured servants would provide free labor for a certain number of years and in the end were rewarded with an area of land. When this became too difficult to provide land, slavery was born. Although morally unethically, the colonist’s economy improved when indentured servitude transitioned into slavery of Africans through Bacon’s Rebellion, triangle trade, and laws allowing mistreatment of slaves as property.

They would sign a contract that made them work for a certain amount of year and then be freed. There were two indentured servants, the non-convict servants were sold for a term of four to six years, and the convict servants had to serve a minimum of seven years.When the servants earned their freedom they were granted 50 acres of land so they could grow their own tobacco. They were at a disadvantage because they had to pay some costs associated with receiving new land. By 1650, there were about 4,300 indentured servants living in Virginia. This is about 14% of an estimated 30,000 population of people of English and European ancestry. Out of the 4,300 indentured servants 300 were African American and 4,000 were of white descent. Eventually indentured servitude was turned into slavery as the slave trade started to boom. It was not recognized as institution until the late 17th century. Indentured servants lives would not be great but still better than the lives of slaves. They servant would be supplied room and board while working in their master’s field., and only about 40% of servants lived to complete their contract. Female servants had a rough life and were often harassed by their masters. If a female servant became pregnant she would have years added on to the end of her contracted

Slavery was the driving force for most of the political controversies during the 19th century. Not only has slavery created political controversies in the United States, but throughout the world.The Fugitive Slave Acts, revolts, and a political argument indicating if slavery should be legalized are the main aspects that caused these disputes.

The New World presented itself as a new start for many immigrants native to the British Empire. Many immigrants had their voyage paid by a master, the immigrant would become an indentured servant to repay debt. The servant would be provided with shelter while performing labor for their masters. Five years was the average length of servitude. After five years of service, the servant would gain their freedom. Servitude was not easy for every servant, especially since cruel treatment of servants was not uncommon.

There were a bunch of traders who came in our town and offered us jobs in America. “Earning wages at all was difficult in England since job opportunities were shrinking” (The American Promise 65). It was the job of being an indentured servant. “Unable to pay for their trip across the Atlantic, poor immigrants agreed to a contract called an indenture, which functioned as a form of credit. by signing an indenture, an immigrant borrowed the cost of transportation