Early British America Labor Systems
Plettl 1
Alexis Plettl
Maternowski
History of US
22 September, 2014
Early British North America
Labor Systems
Early British North American labor systems were indentured servants and slaves. Indentured servants were a mix of ethnicities. AfricanAmerican, Indian, and perhaps mixes of both. Indentured servants had a contract of how long they had to work and what work they had to do. At the end of that time they could go free. The treatment of the indentured servants was horrendous. They could go free after they fulfilled their contract so the owners would make living arrangements disgusting, abuse and punish them, many were malnourished. Not only were their after work lives horrid but they also had terrible work lives. They had to work in the disgusting heat, crazy weather, and the servants often came from different places.The Indians were never really exposed to the sickness and disease that they were brought into.
Servants often had weak immune systems and the medicine was not that advanced so many servants perished due to many different issues. Sickness and disease most common. By the time the 1660 came around, few Virginia planters had slaves. When 1675 arrived slavery was adapted by all thirteen colonies. “Of the estimated 7.7 million Africans transported to the New World between 1492 and
1820, more than half arrived between 1700 and 1800. (Foner 131). By the mid 18th century, three distinct slave systems were well entrenched in Britain’s mainland colonies: tobaccobased plantation slavery in the Chesapeake, ricebased plantation slavery in South Carolina and Georgia, and non plantation slavery in New England and the middle colonies (Foner 136). Even though the preferred
Plettl 2 labor before the 1600’s was indentured servants, the fad for indentured servants passed. Slavery was preferred over indentured because slaves were outright owned, they did not have to fulfill any contract that guaranteed their
Alexis Plettl
Maternowski
History of US
22 September, 2014
Early British North America
Labor Systems
Early British North American labor systems were indentured servants and slaves. Indentured servants were a mix of ethnicities. AfricanAmerican, Indian, and perhaps mixes of both. Indentured servants had a contract of how long they had to work and what work they had to do. At the end of that time they could go free. The treatment of the indentured servants was horrendous. They could go free after they fulfilled their contract so the owners would make living arrangements disgusting, abuse and punish them, many were malnourished. Not only were their after work lives horrid but they also had terrible work lives. They had to work in the disgusting heat, crazy weather, and the servants often came from different places.The Indians were never really exposed to the sickness and disease that they were brought into.
Servants often had weak immune systems and the medicine was not that advanced so many servants perished due to many different issues. Sickness and disease most common. By the time the 1660 came around, few Virginia planters had slaves. When 1675 arrived slavery was adapted by all thirteen colonies. “Of the estimated 7.7 million Africans transported to the New World between 1492 and
1820, more than half arrived between 1700 and 1800. (Foner 131). By the mid 18th century, three distinct slave systems were well entrenched in Britain’s mainland colonies: tobaccobased plantation slavery in the Chesapeake, ricebased plantation slavery in South Carolina and Georgia, and non plantation slavery in New England and the middle colonies (Foner 136). Even though the preferred
Plettl 2 labor before the 1600’s was indentured servants, the fad for indentured servants passed. Slavery was preferred over indentured because slaves were outright owned, they did not have to fulfill any contract that guaranteed their