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Primary Source Analysis Of 'A Planter's View'

757 Words4 Pages

Leroy A. Rolle
Dr. Malka
HIST-1483-030
18 February 2023
Primary Source Analysis In the text, “A Planter’s View (1705)” Robert Beverley, The History and Present State of Virginia. And “An Indentured Servant’s View (1743)” William Moraley, The Infortunate. there is a difference in rights that slaves and indentured servants have. Indentured servants have legal rights that can be used in court against their masters. Where slaves have zero rights at all, no matter if they try to take their issues to court to dispute, it will fall on deaf ears. But in the beginning, there was a thin line that almost made indentured servants and slaves equal. But as time went by that line slowly turned into a canyon that split the two apart. For discussion purposes, …show more content…

The text explains that “Slaves are the Negroes, and their Posterity [children], following the condition of the Mother, according to the Maxim, partus sequitur ventrem.1 They are call’d Slaves, in Respect of the Time of their Servitude, because it is for LifeServants are those which serve only for a few Years, according to the time of their Indenture or the Custom of the Country [colony].”(Robert Beverley, The History and Present State of Virginia.). The tone of this text is very blunt and to the point that the reader knows precisely the difference between a slave and a servant and explains how long the terms are for each. Indentured servants were for a few years, and slaves for life. In the same text, the author gives a list of twelve rights indentured servants have, the first right of the list is, “All Servants whatsoever have their Complaints heard without Fee or Reward; but if the Master be found Faulty, the charge of the Complaint is cast upon him, otherwise the Business is done ex Officio.” (Robert Beverley, The History and Present State of Virginia.). This law brings to light that indentured servants had rights where slaves have zero rights at all. Why Beverly documented this is unknown, but to speculate it was most likely because he was a historian and he was just documenting this for …show more content…

Moraley documents his life in his autobiography, he also documents his views on slavery in the colonies. In the text, “An Indentured Servant’s View (1743)” written by William Moraley explains how African Americans are treated “The Condition of the Negroes is very bad, by reason of the Severity of the Laws, there being no Laws made in Favour of these unhappy Wretches”(William Moraley, The Infortunate). Moraley explains how there are zero laws in their favor and classes them “unhappy Wretches”. Moraley also brings up how to serve the laws that are against them. Moraley states that “Laws against them are so severe, that being caught after running away, they are unmercifully whipped; and if they die under the Discipline, their Masters suffer no Punishment”(William Moraley, The Infortunate). The tone of Moraley is a kind of pity he has for the slaves. The reason for Moraley to document this is probably to show how harsh and severe the life of a slave

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