Indentured Servants In Early Colonial America

In early America, unfree labor was originally done by indentured servants. As time went on, changes in the laws created the condition of chattel slavery. Slaves and indentured servants differed both in the way they were treated, and in their possible futures. (I am assuming I am supposed to write an essay about how they differed).

In early colonial America, arable and available land was plentiful. Even though Native American tribes such as the Iroquois and the Anasazi had made their homes here for many generations, Europeans believed in their right to take -and work- this land for themselves. With such a surplus of farmable land, workers began to become hard to come by in colonial America, leading to the introduction of new forms of labor. Indentured servitude first became a popular type of employment but, during the 16th century, was exceeded in popularity by another system of labor: slavery. Even though the work of slaves and indentured servants were similar, their situations, such as their treatment and their working contracts, differed greatly.
Both would be required to work long, tiresome days in the sun on the plantations, collecting cash crops such as tobacco or cotton. Neither job title would grant you a salary; instead of receiving cash, both slaves and indentured servants merely received food and shelter from their masters. Another similarity between these two groups was the classlessness of their societies. The roles of men and women were less clearly defined in both slave and indentured servant communities, leading women to have a more influential and respected role in these