...The Differences between Indentured Servants and Slaves Jabrehia Smith May 15, 2014 HIS/110 Professor Frank Bird Introduction Prior to the Civil War, slaves and indentured servants were human chattel that were sold and considered personal property. One system consisted of laws to protect certain rights for laborers, while another system provided no protection from the law to protect laborer’s rights because they were simply considered a piece of property. This brief essay explains the differences between an indentured servant and a slave. In addition, readers will learn when and why masters began to choose slaves over indentured servants. Indentured Servants In 1607, the Virginia Company of London landed and settled in Jamestown. Early settlers realized they had an abundant amount of land to care for; however, there was no one to tend to the land. The Virginia Company developed a system known as the indentured servitude that would attract workers needed for cheap labor and a decade later, the first indentured servants arrived in America ("History Detectives Special Investigations", 2011). The indentured servitude system benefited both the masters and the servants. Masters were awarded 50 acres of land for every laborer brought across the Atlantic as well as the services of the laborers and servants worked under what was typically a five to seven years contract in exchange for freedom dues, lodging, room, board, and passage ("U.S. History Pre- Columbian...
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...Comparison of Indentured Servitude to Slavery in Early America Slavery and indentured servitude were similar in many ways, but also had many differences. In slavery, a person was forced to work their whole life. Indentured servitude was when a person or family worked for another, as a slave would, but for only a certain amount of years. After that, they were promised a plot of their own land. Both had harsh conditions on the way over to the New World as well as when they arrived. Indentured servants were young European men and women and even families who signed a contract that they agree to work for a certain amount of years in return for transportation, food, clothing, water, and shelter. The adults typically worked for four to seven years but the children worked for many more years, usually in plantations. If a woman got pregnant while she was an indentured servant, she and her child would also have to work for many more years to make up for lost time. Indentured servants could be sold like slaves. The Virginia Company of London paid to transport servants across the Atlantic, but the established law of the headright system in 1618 gave settlers who paid their own way 50 acres of land once their contract of labor was up. As a result, the...
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...Indentured Laborers Indentured laborers were young people who after abolishment of the slave trade and passage into the New World, offered to work for an employer for a certain number of years. This led to the indentured servitude labor system which was widely spread in the 18th century in the British colonies in North America and elsewhere. The system was used particularly as a way for the poor freed in the British and German states to get passage to the American colonies. These young people would work for a fixed number of years then be free to work freely. The employers would buy the indentured from the sea captain who brought the people over. This was done due to the labor demand that existed in the plantations and other work areas especially after the abolishment of slave trade and slavery. Note: after the abolishment of slave trade and slavery, the slaves held is captive for labor were freed. However, this did not mean the plantains and did not need labor. Some of the indentured laborers worked as farmers, as helpers for farm wives, as apprenticed craftsmen, and as miners among a variety of other professions. Both sides, the employer and the indentured laborer, were required to meet their terms which were legally enforced by local American courts. In case of any runaways, those laborers were sought and brought back to their employers to continue as their contract required. In the 17th and 18th century, about half of the white immigrants to the American colonies were...
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...The black slaves fulfilled the demand for labor in the South by the British Colonists since they had an agriculturally based economy. They grew cotton on vast tracks of land that was very labor intensive for planting and picking. What were the major differences between African slaves and indentured servants the early colonies? We see that there was little difference between the slave and the indentured servant. Indentured servants came from England. They had no chance at owning land in England and were very poor. The only way they could get to the colonies was to come as indentured servants. They passage was paid for and they worked for a "master" for a specified amount of time then they were freed. In fact, black slaves and indentured servants were treated virtually the same and worked in the fields together. But after 1680, the mainland colonists depended more on the slave trade because there was less indentured servants. More land was freed...
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...The phenomenon of slavery in America eventually evolved to such an extreme extent that the institution and its aftermath created many years of discrimination and the dramatic split of social classes. Although America thrived economically due to slave labor when it was established, without the Abolitionist Movement, it is unlikely that individuals in our society would have the equal rights and freedoms that they enjoy today. From the 1600’s to the 1800’s, the original intention of slavery was to build economic prosperity for the new nation; however, the abuse that slaves endured eventually transformed slavery into America's greatest nightmare. Previously, in 1619, in America, slavery first began when 20 African slaves were put aboard a Dutch...
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...Slaves and Indentured Servants (91) During the 17th and 18th centuries throughout the English colonies, indentured servants and slaves made up the main workforce for land-owning colonists. For a long period of time, both indentured servants and slaves seemed to stand on the same status and were treated about the same. However, as time progressed, changes in the colonies also brought changes between these two different groups. The path to the Revolution brought about new ideologies concerning freedom and liberty, causing colonists to question their own ideas of freedom and liberty, as well as the idea of what freedom and liberty should mean to slaves and indentured servants. Indentured servants and slaves were similar in many ways in both their lifestyles, the way they were treated themselves, and the way their children were treated; however, their differences become very evident when discussing their progression into slavery or servitude, and their progression to freedom. Throughout the majority of time during the 17th and 18th century, indentured servants and slaves were considered to be of the same rank and were treated fairly the same. For a while, most colonists adhered to English common law, which did not acknowledge chattel slavery or the ownership of a human being as property. While indentured servants had to bind themselves in writing to their owner for about three to seven years, many of the early African slaves worked for their masters for life, although they were...
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...some type of ways, African slaves and indentured servants were similar to one another. They may have seemed like there in the same status but as time has changed, both these groups have changed drastically and have their differences. Indentured servants had more hope along their future. As for slaves they didn’t have as much freedom or hopes. Slavery and indentured servitude main purpose is the means of helping the wealthy in America. Indentured servants are “an individual usually male but occasionally female who contracted to serve a master for a period of four to seven years in return for payment of the servant’s passage to America. Indentured servitude was the primary labor system in the Chesapeake colonies for the most of the seventeenth century” (The American Journey, 43). The servants were being driven around door to door for inspection. Each one was a strong, skilled young men. The sick and the old were a little...
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...The expansion of British America caused the decline of the Native population in the east. Between the years of 1660-1700, the English had created an empire in the New World where it had many established and thriving colonies (Schultz, n.d.). As the largest stakeholder in land mass in the New World and its biggest competitors, the Dutch, French, and Spanish looking elsewhere, the only thing that stood in their way were the Native Americans. As the English continued to move into the interior of the New World, this infringed upon the lands that the Native’s occupied. Over time, neither party trusted the other and it was clear that there would be no compromise and the struggle for land a priority for both. The relationship between the two quickly eroded into violence since the lust for land, religious and cultural differences forced the...
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...resources and transformation of the America into agriculture industry. The abundance resources of land were used by the colonists to make plantations. Seeing the potential benefits from the planting of commercial crops, most English laborers came to the New World as indentured servants. However, the labor sources of the indentured servant were later shifted to the slave, especially the African slave. These African slaves were victims of the particularly brutal slavery institution that was established during the English colonial era. As they played an important role in developing the English colonies, their...
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...profit driven, left little room for caring for the community or others. In Virginia, indentured servants were many; per the head right system, land was given to those who paid for the passage of immigrants, leading to an increase in indentured servitude. Starvation and poor health paid a toll on many especially the servants and slaves. Richard Frethorne an indentured servant wrote a letter to his parents begging for his retrieval back to England. Richard states, “I have eaten more in a day at home than I have allowed me here for a Weeke.” (Michael P. Johnson’s Reading the American Past p.38) In the Chesapeake colonies, social class and order was different of that of their New Englander Neighbors. The elite social class and land owners with their many servants and slaves began to judge one another on how many slaves a plantation owner would own, also known as plantation aristocracy. This along with the head right system led to the increase in indentured servitude and slavery of the southern colonies. Virginian law in 1667 states, “the conferring of baptisme doth not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or freedome.” Now, the New England settlers were not the spitting image of England. In fact, to the contrary, New Englanders were very much in opposition. For starters, New Englanders actually resisted the Catholic Church of England, where the primary mover of their difference was religious freedom. Most New Englanders were predominantly protestant- later identifying...
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...Yael Pineda History M151C Professor E. Avila 8 June 2015 Wiping Away the Scars of Centuries Human slavery is a phenomenon that has been present since the times of the Romans and the Greeks. As a common misconception, many societies, especially those in America tend to believe that slavery was always black. The question to answer here is: when did slavery become black? Throughout a period of enslavement, human beings have again and again treated slavery as an act of the “norm” embedded in human behavior, which they use in order to make a clear distinction between them and us to justify such atrocious and immortal acts. With historical examples of structural forces and cultural practices from the literary works of Harris, Painter, Roediger...
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...The difference in free Blacks and Enslaved African American was how well off they may have lived, this varied depending on the location of where they lived. Black that were free still had laws they had to abide by. But systems of black indentured servitude persisted, and workers found themselves trapped in systems of unfree labor (Heerman, 2016). The biggest difference between free blacks and slaves is their legal status. Some of the privileges and rights that blacks had that enslaved did not was their different laws for them. The “Slave Code for the District of Columbia” explains the laws. Black slave was considered property instead of humans. Most slaves did not have the same knowledge or access to the court systems (Blanck,...
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...on throughout the book is one which touches many of us deeply, slavery. As a person who has studied both law and religion and who is now embarking on a study of moral theology & ethics, I was highly interested in reading what John T. Noonan a distinguished scholar -author and member of the U.S. Court of Appeals- had to say in such an arena. Having heard him lecture, I was interested to see how his viewpoint translated into this type of arena. I was not disappointed. Throughout our course we not only discussed how this work dealt with such a topic, but we also discussed our own viewpoints on this very topic. Within the following paper I will discuss the issue of slavery, in the form of a synthetic paper, and how not only how it has evolved, but also the various positions the church has had concerning such an issue. As a backdrop, I will also use what Noonan outlined in his book as well. Therefore, this paper will be in the form of a review of Noonan thoughts (which will utilize various points from my prior presentation on this topic)/synthetic paper on the issue of slavery within the Catholic Church. John T. Noonan builds A Church That Can and Cannot Change on the fact that the deposit of faith cannot change. In the early chapters Noonan identifies three areas where change in moral principles has definitely occurred in the course of the history of the Catholic Church. These principles are slavery, usury and religious liberty. He also points to a fourth...
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...colonies? Question 2: What are the similarities and differences between early colonial and contemporary American beliefs about religious freedom and tolerance? Question 3: Examine Bacon’s Rebellion or Leisler’s Rebellion and address the following questions: What were its causes and consequences? Do you think the rebellion is best viewed as a precursor to the revolutionary war or as an unrelated event? Cite at least one primary source in each of your short essays. Format your essays consistent with APA guidelines. Submit your essays in a single Microsoft® Word document. _____________________________________________________________________________________ WEEK THREE **INDIVDUAL ASSIGNMENT** 3. Resources: Ch. 11–19 of Colonial America and MyHistoryLab Write three 350- to 700-word letters; one written from the point of view of each of the following people: Letter 1: A merchant living in a New England urban center Letter 2: The wife of a religious leader living in Pennsylvania Letter 3: A plantation worker living in South Carolina Assume in each letter the audience is a friend or relative living in another colony, in Europe, or in the Caribbean. Describe in each letter at least two of the following aspects of colonial life Industry, commerce, and trade Agriculture Politics Religion Family life Immigration The colonial town Servitude or slavery Discuss at least one historical...
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...Chapter 9 – Global Stratification Learning Objectives • Define social stratification and explain why it is sociologically significant. • Describe and provide examples of the four major systems of social stratification. • Discuss the relationship between gender and social stratification. • Describe the major points of disagreement between Karl Marx and Max Weber regarding the meaning of social class in industrialized societies. • As articulated by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, list the functions that social stratification provides for society. • Discuss Melvin Tumin's rebuttal to Davis and Moore's functionalist view of social stratification. • Explain the conflict perspective's view of social stratification as it relates to class conflict and scarce resources. • Evaluate Gerhard Lenski's attempt to synthesize the functionalist and conflict perspectives' views on social stratification. • Define ideology and understand how elite classes use it to maintain social stratification. • Compare the social stratification system in Great Britain and the former Soviet Union to the social stratification system in the United States. • Identify the major characteristics associated with the Most Industrialized Nations, Industrializing Nations, and Least Industrialized Nations. • Describe and evaluate the major theories pertaining to the origins of and maintenance of global stratification. Chapter Summary Social stratification...
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