Impressions of indentured servants
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Impressions of indentured servants
Although it may appear that being an Indentured Servant is better than being somebody’s slave, that is not the case at all. Yes, slaves are permanent and can not work off their debt but when you are an indentured servant you are treated horribly. If you are an indentured servant you might as well call yourself a slave. Chances are that you are not going to survive anyway therefor you will have been a slave for the majority of your life without working your debt off.
Indentured Servants were treated horribly. They were not given a good shelter, a good serving size of food, or care if they got sick. What they did get was dirty water, tiny amounts of food, and very little clothing. “And I have nothing to comfort me, nor is there nothing to be gotten here but sickness and death”. Because of the water that they were served it often caused them horrible diseases. The small portions of food also left them very week. “But during the voyage there is on board these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of sea-sickness, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy, cancer, mouth-rot, and the like, all of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water, so that many die miserably.” In another’s opinion one would assume that if you were to have somebody working for you, you would want them to be strong and well nourished so that they may do their work in a fast pace. In the articles you see many of the indentured servants pleading to go back home or for their parents to redeem them as in “A Letter from an
Indentured Servant”.
Even though their lives once they appeared in America were torturous, the voyages they endured were just as awful. It takes the servants at least eight days or sooner, and at most, four weeks to get from Holland to England. They get everything examined and paid, it taking up to fourteen days till they have
Impressions of indentured servants
Although it may appear that being an Indentured Servant is better than being somebody’s slave, that is not the case at all. Yes, slaves are permanent and can not work off their debt but when you are an indentured servant you are treated horribly. If you are an indentured servant you might as well call yourself a slave. Chances are that you are not going to survive anyway therefor you will have been a slave for the majority of your life without working your debt off.
Indentured Servants were treated horribly. They were not given a good shelter, a good serving size of food, or care if they got sick. What they did get was dirty water, tiny amounts of food, and very little clothing. “And I have nothing to comfort me, nor is there nothing to be gotten here but sickness and death”. Because of the water that they were served it often caused them horrible diseases. The small portions of food also left them very week. “But during the voyage there is on board these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of sea-sickness, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy, cancer, mouth-rot, and the like, all of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water, so that many die miserably.” In another’s opinion one would assume that if you were to have somebody working for you, you would want them to be strong and well nourished so that they may do their work in a fast pace. In the articles you see many of the indentured servants pleading to go back home or for their parents to redeem them as in “A Letter from an
Indentured Servant”.
Even though their lives once they appeared in America were torturous, the voyages they endured were just as awful. It takes the servants at least eight days or sooner, and at most, four weeks to get from Holland to England. They get everything examined and paid, it taking up to fourteen days till they have