In the early 1600s, companies that were given charters by the British crown established colonies in North America. These colonies served to provide the mother country with raw materials. Previously, the only people who could afford come to America were wealthy people. With the idea of indentured servitude developed by joint-stock companies, anyone willing to work for a certain number of years could come to the New World. This system worked for numerous years, however, according to a graph of servants and slaves per probate inventory in York County, Virginia, from the years 1665 to 1695, the number of indentured servants decreased immensely while, from 1680 to 1895, the number of slaves increased. (Doc 1) The graph serves to show the progression…
The search for a viable labor source affected the southern colonies in many ways. Without forced labor the southern colonies wouldn’t have been able to keep their economy up the way they did. The southern colonies developed with a focus on agriculture as the primary economic activity. Unfortunately the technology to decrease the labor demands such as the cotton gin or spinning jenny weren’t invented during the colonial times. Without that technology the southerners instead took advantage of the immigration and came up with the indentured servants. The indentured servants were I guess you can say happy for having the opportunity for acquiring their own land and freedom for a few years of labor. Even though most of the servants were young and healthy men, most of them died before completing their seven years of labor.…
2) Indentured servitude was a way to resolve the growing demand of labor in the colonies. In a way, it was similar to a short-term apprenticeship.…
Indentured servitude and slavery existed in the ‘New World’ primarily for economic and population growth. In the book, Going to the Source, Slavery was defined as “hereditary” and “a lifetime status” and the slave must serve for life, however, on the other hand indentured servitude was “contractual” and “voluntary” although the servant is forced to serve for a fixed amount of years. Indentured servitude and slavery are strikingly parallel to each other from the fact that both parties participate in physically demanding labor and endure severe punishments induced by their master, nevertheless, the contractual agreement to each party is quite different, plus the primary skin color of the of party heavily impacts the treatment and escape punishments…
Indentured servants were people of a lower economic class who worked for people of a higher economic background. These servants worked for a given amount of time, usually between five and seven years and either worked for money, food, shelter, or freedom. Indentured servants were originally made up of mostly young white males who were trading their time in prison or their poverty for time working as a servant.…
though, because 30 years after 1793, comes the cotton gin which will raise the importance of…
Slavery and indentured servants are different types of coerced labor. One difference is that indentured servants sometimes chose to do this coerced work. Europeans could would chose to work for several…
Slavery and indentured servitude differentiated because of how they operated and the way the workers were treated. Indentured servants found work by offering their services for a number of years in exchange for a ride to the colonies. They were treated with a lot more respect than slaves because once their term of service was over, they were free to live how they wanted in the colonies. Slaves, on the other hand, were forced to work for their entire lives and were passed down from generation to generation of the colonist families. They were treated like objects, they had no citizenship and were denied basic human rights. Slavery eventually replaced indentured servitude because it was less costly and the slaves had to work for their entire lives…
According to "Indentured servant” (n.d.), an indentured servant is “a person who came to America and was placed under contract to work for another over a period of time.” This meant that the servant chose to become a slave in the respect that they worked for no pay. These were people who wanted a new life in the New World and were willing to sign a contract to work for no money and earn their freedom and perhaps more. Their trip across the Atlantic was paid for by their “master” and they were given room and board during their contract (ushistory.org, 2013).…
when you are an indentured servant you are treated horribly. If you are an indentured servant you…
George Alsop’s memoir of his service as an indentured servant in the colony of Maryland provides an insightful look into the lives of indentured servants in Maryland during the middle of the 17th Century. Throughout this period of colonial America the British were notorious in their use of propaganda to attract young British men into indentured servitude as the use of slaves was not yet perpetual, and would not be until 1670. Alsop depicts an idealistic view of indenture servitude in Maryland during his own time of service, which may have been the case, however this view can be contested by Nathaniel Bacon and Richard Frethorne who both experienced a rather lackluster servitude in comparison to Alsop.…
The economic reasons the Europeans and Americans enslaved Africans because they did not have enough money to pay the white indentured servants, so therefore it was easier and cheaper to enslave Africans. Also the white indentured servants began to decline as more working-class whites found employment. As the white indentured servants worked off their debt they wanted to be looked at as equal as their owners and to be treated as the Englishmen.…
I think that perpetual servitude was not good. The people would have to work until they could pay out of it. If they could not pay out of it they would be slaves forever. The people that came there would have to pay to go if they didn’t they would be slaves and he would say I paid for your food shelter clothes …etc.…
Although Indentured servitude and slavery have similarities they are also quite different. Indentured servants were young men looking to work in exchange for land or money in America. Slaves were brought to America and forced to work for the colonists receiving nothing in return. Indentured servants and slavery were both groups that were involved in America’s first colonization and although they were frequently taken advantage of, they were very important in building this new nation’s…
The Indentured Servitude is very different from slavery. The reason was that for Indentured Servitude, was where you had to choose to work for a employer if required, you had to sign a contract and you would work for a certain amount of time. While the slavery is where you have been born to work your whole life and so are your kids and their kids, etc.…