Indentured Servants In North America

The history of North American white indentured servants was as long as the entire North American colonial history. May 1607, London sent the first group of settlers to North America, built the James Town. The number of first group immigrants was 105, including the white indentured servants. Just in decades later, a large-scale importation of white indentured servants was filling the town. Initially, the Europeans tried to get workforce from indigenous Indians of North America. They had tried every means to capture Indians as slaves. However, North America is home for the American Indians, they can easily escape after being arrested. On the other hand, the total Indian population was extremely limited, far from meeting the needs of the growing
colony. In this way, the European colonists turned eyes to the whites. North American colonies in 1680, according to official estimates, the number of white indentured servants that transported to North America were about 1 million each year. 17th century, indentured servants became of the most common slaves in North American colonies, they accounted for about half the total immigrant population.
The reason why white indentured servants been transported to North America can be varied.
One is those who are unable to repay their debts. Who unable to pay the debt, people would signed for a contract with creditors that are willing to work a number of years for satisfaction. Second, people think of the lack of tolls to North America. Many poor immigrants, in order to raise travel fees, often sold themselves into slavery to a transatlantic ticket, as the so-called "voluntary contract people." The third is kidnapped by the colonial government of immigrants. American colonists fabricated a fairy tale of how the rich is the North America, to induce a large number of English, Scottish, Irish, French people, Germans, Dutch, Jews and Swedes moved to America, of which the largest number is English people. Their lack of self-defense ability, such as the infirm beggars and children, were often forced or lured into slavery. ”Many of those kidnapped it was claimed were ’felons condemned to death, sturdy beggars, gipsies, and other incorrigible rouges, poor and idle debauched persons’ Historian Beverley, in his famous ‘The History and Present State of Virginia’ published in London in 1705, stated ” , the criminals in United Kingdom, this is the biggest source of white indentured
servants.
Back to 1632, British king Charles I gave George Calvert the land between Virginia and Pennsylvania. George Calvert was a Roman Catholic who also known as “Lord Baltimore”. He tried to set up a colony because of religious problems in his country, England. And after that, more and more land was governed by Europeans.
During the 17th and 18th century, tens of thousands of white indentured servants, including women and children, are seen as a "movable property", their tragedy life was began since the day when they departure from the old continent. In the brutal process of delivery, there was an enormous number of dead white slave, sometimes nearly half of the white buried in waves of the Atlantic Ocean. “As all passengers, living or dead, had to be paid for if possible before the ship’ captains would release the immigrants”. Those white indentured servants who reach the North American, they work as slave labor their owners’ services, they usually serve for 5 to 7 years, while others are up to 10 years. There are many indentured servants working hours and conditions were entirely decided by the master. There was no personal freedom during their servitude, cannot marry without the master’s permition, the owner is also free to resell, transfer, mortgage, lease them. Working as labor in the service period, the white indentured servants do not share any of the production, nor any personal property, no wages, and can only hope from the supply of accommodation by the owner in order to sustain life.
Indentured servants were engaged in very heavy physical labor, but also often suffer from brutal beatings, and many people had been tortured to dead before the contract expires.
The southern colonies in North America, cruel punishment were commonly happen on white indentured servants. Every colony in Virginia has pillars for use to whip the slaves. One guy had tied to a pillar 4 consecutive days; his ear was nailed to a pillar. His "crime” was to philandering with a maid. Southern plantation owners treated their white indentured servants even more cruel than the black slaves, because they feel that their “black property” will always be slaves, but white indentured servants will one day be free. As indentured servants after the expiry of the contract, generally they can get a small piece of land, an independent small farmer, but the previous owner must pay a "ceded rent." “With Freedom dues, the former servant could make his way in the colonies as a hired laborer or even as a landowner. No stigma attached to his past
bondage.”
As a matter of sense, it just not comparable between live as a man with freedom and survive as a white indentured servant. In place of fundamental human rights, freedom simply cannot only be a privilege for a particular group of people. In North America, someone might opposed to slavery, but slavery he held always to be a secondary issue. There is no denying that the spectre of unemployment and want is constantly haunting them. As far as I concerned, no matter how badly my life is struggling in Europe, I can still do whatever I want, because I am a freeman. Conversely, as an indentured servant, working for 24 hours a day with piece of food, not even to mention the fact, I could been whipped, branded with the name of master, and even put to death. How on earth can this kind of life better than walking on street as a freeman?