Indentured Servitude In Slavery

A plantation economy, an economy founded on an agricultural mass production like tobacco, sustained the source of income of the Chesapeake regions, consisting Virginia, Maryland, and northern North Carolina. The early settlers soon realized the urgent need for labor in the New World. Due to the fact that many potential immigrants could not afford an expensive trip across the Atlantic, the Virginia Company developed the system of indentured servitude to attract common laborers. Since tobacco required intensive hand labor all year round, indentured servants have become vital to the colonial economy. "Virginia Servant and Slave Laws" represent the elaborate efforts of masters' to profit from indentured servants and slaves against runaway and

Indentured servants were used in early colonial times as a means of passage to the new world. The cash crops of the early settlers were exhaustingly labor intensive. In fact, U.S. History (2015) indicated that “the growth of tobacco, rice, and indigo and the plantation economy created a tremendous need for labor in Southern English America” (p. 1). The technology did not exist at the time for machinery that clears the ground and works the land as it does today. The work had to be done by hand; from clearing and prepping the fields to harvesting the crops, it was all manual labor for which the new land did not have ample supply of.

In many ways, the lives of the indentured servants in Virginia and those of the African slaves working in the West Indies were very similar; they both were working for a master and had to live through harsh conditions. However, minor differences in working and living conditions provided slightly different lives for the better or for the worst.

Situations became more intense for those slaves who actually reached the plantations over in the Americas. Many of the plantation owners had returned home to Europe, leaving their holdings (slaves and land) in America to be managed by overseers who were often unstable. Often times slave families were split up and they were not allowed to learn to read or write. African men, women, and children were forced to work with little to eat or drink. From today’s perspective this seemed very inhuman to treat another human being in such a manner. However, in between the 16th and 19th centuries the harsh treatment of slaves was accepted on the basis they were not considered ordinary human beings; they were if anything a sub race a less superior one. Slave labor provided some of the most sought after items in Atlantic and European trading exchange such as sugar, coffee, and cotton of the Caribbean; tobacco and rice of North America and lastly gold and sugar of Portuguese and Spanish South America. These commodities represented about a third of the value of European trade at the time.

Indentured servants came to America from Europe in search of land, work, increased wages, and religious freedom. However, the colonies expanded so rapidly, labor became scarce. This led to a greater import of Europeans willing to begin a new life in the New World, in exchange for their servitude for a contracted period (O 'Brien & Sparrow, 2014). When labor contracts ended and freed servants received their land, servitude needed to continue with farms and business operation. With scarce labor, Indians became the new target. Captured and forced into servitude by colonials, the Indians filled the gaps in the colonial workforce to repay debt. The Indians eventually revolted and went on murderous adventures against the white man, leading to the expulsion of slave labor trade and outlawing independent trading in the Southeastern states (Shi & Tindall, 2012).

During the seventeen century a large amount of slaves starting to enter North America; Virginia and Maryland in particular. At the time tobacco was introduced to the colonies by John Rolfe. Indentured servants where people who worked for a master for a certain of number of years and, in exchange they were brought over to New World for free. At first many indentured servants could not survive the New World, and died quickly due to diseases. Over time the servants adjusted to the new environment and started living much longer than before. As the New World began to expand, servants to break their contracts with their masters. Many servants fled to Pennsylvania because of William Penn’s belief in universal freedom. Some also left also back to Landon

With the legalization of the practice, many Africans were taken as slaves and transported through the sea to provide labor in the American plantations. The process of slavery was performed in a very inhuman manner. In the slave trade, the blacks were regarded as trade goods and thus, they had no rights. At the dawn of the American Revolution, more than 20% of the population in all the American colonies was of African descent (Amadu, 2007). Robin, (2000) argues that, during the era of the revolution, more than half of all the African Americans lived in Maryland and Virginia. In Chesapeake, the black people made up to 60% of the total population. The majority of the African Americans were slaves. According to the official US census taken in 1790, only 8% of the black population was free (Dorsey, 2007). However, whether free or enslaved, the blacks in the American colonies established familial relationships, survival strategies and various forms of resistances to their conditions. As indicated above, the slaves were like farming tools to their owners and thus, their survival depended explicitly on the will of the plantation owner. The conditions of slavery were that, the workers got very low pay for great amounts of work done. Therefore, the African Americans formulated survival techniques to curb the effects of their worse conditions (Charles, 2003).

The system of involuntary labor in 18th century America came in two forms of indentured servitude and slavery. Since the arrival of European colonialist in the 1700s, these forms of labor were exercised, though indentured servitude was the precursor. Indentured servitude, utilized by both African and European laborers who made the trek across the Atlantic ocean. Accounts of a European servant in The Experience of Bondage: Gottlieb Mittelberger’s Account, describing the sailing conditions, partly similar to that of slaves and the process on arrival to the colony. The difference between slavery and indentured service came to terms when the system of race-based slavery came into practice, known as the terrible transformation. An indentured servant had an agreement with a set amount of years to work, where as after, he is free. Slavery, however, became a permanent laborer, and other measures of heredity, and no wages added to the clause. And as more servants were being freed, and the rising tobacco industry now blossoming, the need for slaves grew. These forms of involuntary servants are often met with resistance, some harsher than others. One of the most common forms of resistance was running away. In “The Have-Nots in Colonial Society,” chapter’s title, Wanted: Runaway Servants and Wanted: Runaway Slaves, showcase numerous advertisements in the colony of Virginia and North Carolina, requesting the return of their “properties.” These advertisements are overtly descriptive, to the clothes they wore and the outlandish remarks about scars they’ve received from punishments.

Throughout the history of early United States, there was never complete equality or freedom, but up until the 1650’s (when slaves began to arrive in the Chesapeake), the playing field was slightly more even. Up to that point in time, the lowest status anybody in the colonies could get was being an indentured servant. Even then though, after their terms of service was up, indentured servants had a life to live still and could possibly make a living for themselves. When the Africans began to arrive more often and increase in numbers, they became more inferior than the indentured servants ever were. Taken complete advantage of by the colonial planters, African slaves were practically scraped everything; after all, with slaves there was no terms

Indentured servants were usually white men, women, and children. They worked for multiple years in return for transportation to New England, housing, food, and eventual freedom. (Indentured Servants). The title of indentured servitude comes from the indenture, or contract that they are required to sign. This stated that they were to serve a certain person for a given amount of time, usually between 4 and 7 years. Convicts who were usually charged with theft were also indentured servants. “One-fourth of the British immigrants to the colonies were convicts” (Stratford Hall). However, they were less trusted and employed longer.

After reading the through the power point on the scarcity of food globally, I was sad for the people that were starving. They did not ask to be born where they were. However, it is a seeds job to grow where it lands. These people in their starving nations could theoretically be feed if waste was eliminated according to the World Resources Institute.

As a student of United States history, I have learned new information concerning certain subject matters. My prior knowledge of US history about these certain topics, such as, indentured servants and the institution of slavery was minimal. The reason for this is most of my prior knowledge of these important topics were forgotten. The question I always asked myself what was the difference between indentured servants and African slaves? Through my personal studying on the subject matter, I have discovered new information that clarified all my misconceptions about historical topics like, indentured servants from Europe, African slavery, and finding the similarities and differences of these two types of labor.

Slaves and indentured servants have been around since the beginning of civilizations. There has always been a majority that had control or power over someone else. In the 16th century, slaves and indentured servants were brought over to North America for labor. Although, many people disagreed with it, it proved to be beneficial to the masters (Barbara Bighman, Reader in American History, pg. 25).

Labor in colonial America was scarce. Explain the development of using indentured servants for labor in the colonies. Below are some of the items you may include:

The greater part of slave people lived in the caribbeans compared to the slave population of the the United states. “...mostly illiterate, spoke a multitude of different languages, and had few if any common ties. But their color and status soon bound them together, so they were able slowly to create a community and culture in the New World.” (Klein 163). In the American South, working conditions were typically better and less grim compared to the lives of slaves in the caribbeans, whereas their working conditions were harsher and they were more prone to tropical diseases, less sanitation and nutrition. Caribbean slaves tend to have less encounterments with their plantation owners, there were many more slaves than owner since most of them didn't