...Unfree labor was an important presence in colonial America. Because native birth rates in the colonies were low, laborers for the plantations had to come from elsewhere. Indentured servants from Europe were the first unfree laborers introduced to the colonies. After Bacon’s rebellion, planters sought another form of unfree labor, slavery. Indentured servants and slaves were the backbone of colonial America’s economy. Indentured servitude was fundamental to the development of the economy of early colonial America. The practice was introduced to the colonies by the Virginia Company to solve the labor shortage issue on the tobacco plantations, and because of the high cost of slaves and England’s surplus of displaced workers and farmers, indentured servants were preferable. By 1700, approximately three quarters of the population in the Chesapeake colonies were indentured servants. This was the first time the English colonies had implemented unfree labor on a large scale showing the region’s reliance on it. After Bacon’s Rebellion, planters sought to replace their malcontent servants for slaves....
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...In the colonial South, both indentured servants and African slave labor were used as a source of labor, but over the years the shortage of indentured servants caused the colonial South to favor slavery. Towards the end of the sixteenth century, the population of England grew as the economy worsen. England was full of poverty and unemployment. Thousands of peasants and laborers became involved in problems such as crimes and poverty. West Country prompters encouraged the beggars in England to be exported to the colony of Virginia (Taylor 52). During the seventeenth century, many people left England for the New World in hopes that the colonies will make a change. The immigrants headed to the colonies were mostly made of indentured servants....
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...Two of the main reasons why Virginians shifted from utilizing indentured servants to using enslaved peoples were economics and racism. The economic viability of using enslaved Africans instead of white indentured servants was probably the more “active” and common reason why they came to be used much more extensively than indentured servants. Racism was a much more “passive” reasoning for it. By the late seventeenth century, the amount of indentured servants was not adequate to work the sugar plantations of Barbados and the other English sugar islands. Slaves were much easier for that harsh work, as they were expendable and very populous there. Black outnumbered whites by three to one on the island of Barbados. (Plantation Life. Chapter 2.) Throughout the seventeenth century tobacco prices in Virginia fell, going from four pounds in 1620 to less than one in 1690.("Evidence 11: Price of Tobacco in Virginia, 1620-1690." "U.S. History Website.") This caused plantation owners to purchase African slaves as they had fewer rights and required less upkeep than indentured servants, so they were less expensive. A Virginia-based planter Nicholas Spencer declared, “low price of Tobacco requires it should bee made as cheap as possible,” and “blacks can make it cheaper than whites.” ("Plantation Life."...
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...America is commonly referred to as the land of opportunity. Whether it's to escape war, flee poverty or to find freedom, people come to America today to fulfill their “American dream.” Many of the reasons why people came to colonial America 400 years ago are the same reasons why people still come today. They are in search of a better life for their families. The opportunities were so good, many of the people were willing to come to colonial America as an indentured servant in order to reap the benefits America provided, including cheaper land, higher wages and the promise of religious freedom. Colonial America offered many people economic stability. In document 3 and 5, we can see how many financial benefits were offered to the poor. They...
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...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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...The Differences between Indentured Servants and Slaves Whether someone was an indentured servant or a slave does not matter because one is not better than the other, but there are differences between the two. An indentured servant was a person who came to America and was placed under contract to work for another over a period of time, in exchange for food, clothing, shelter, or transportation, especially during the 17th century. A slave was someone’s personal property. The difference between indentured servants and slaves has never really been addressed but it’s important that we know the difference between the two, to better understand history. Indentured servants first arrived in America in 1607 following the settlement of Jamestown by the Virginia Company. The idea for indentured servants was born because there was a need for cheap labor. The earliest settlers realized that they had lots of land to care for, but no one to care for it. Indentured servants became an important part of colonial America. Indentured servants had to complete hard years of work but after the specified period of time they would be granted freedom. Most of the indentured servants were young (under the age of 21) and worked on farms doing the majority of the manual work. Others did things in the home such as complete domestic services. The jobs that the servants did do, they did not get paid for but they did receive certain amenities for their services. Once a servant completed their obligation...
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...Document 1 is from the point of view of Gottlieb Mittelberger. He discusses the experiences of what it’s like to travel overseas to America. He traveled with many people who would become indentured servants. He found that the conditions in which they traveled were concerning and wrote to future indentured servants to inform and warn them of what they were really going into. Document 2 is from the point of view of Equiano. He describes his life as a former slave and the conditions he went through going into America. Both documents 1 and 2 relate to colonial labor systems developed in the 1600s and 1700s; the first talks about indentured servants, and the second talks about slavery. Gottlieb Mittelberger was traveling overseas with many other people who would soon become indentured...
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...------------------------------------------------- History 102 ------------------------------------------------- Treatment of slaves and indentured servants ------------------------------------------------- Since the beginning of United States history, slavery played a key role in developing the American economy. From the early colonial period through the end of the civil war, African American slaves and indentured servants generally handled the labor in the Southern region of the United States. Although both African American slaves and indentured servants endured many of the same struggles, the difference between the treatment of people within each classification can be seen in runaway advertisements. These advertisements provided insight into the treatment of the indentured servants versus slaves through references to description of a trade, clothing and physical appearance. ------------------------------------------------- Runaway advertisements were published within colonial newspapers that were prevalent primarily between the late 1700’s. These advertisements were usually placed under the section describing ‘lost or stolen goods’ and slave owners or masters were the people who would offer...
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...Scantrons turned in late for any reason will be accepted but will be granted only 50% credit. 1. Scholars estimate that human migration into the Americas over the Bering Strait occurred approximately ______ ago. A. 2,000 years B. 5,000 years C. 9,000 years D. 11,000 years E. 18,000 years 2. The first truly complex society in the Americas was that of the A. Maya. B. Aztecs. C. Incas. D. Pueblos. E.Olmec. 3. Cahokia was a large trading center located near what present-day city? A. St. Louis B. Memphis C. New Orleans D. Baton Rouge E. Detroit 4. Regarding knowledge of the Americas prior to the fifteenth century, most Europeans A. were aware of the travels of the Norse seaman Leif Eriksson in the eleventh century. B. believed the Americas to consist of little more than several small islands. C. were entirely unaware of the existence of the Americas. D. assumed that the Americas were largely unpopulated. E. had only heard of America from the travels of Marco Polo. 5. The preeminent European maritime power in the fifteenth century was A. Spain. B. Portugal. C. France. D. the Netherlands. E. England. 6. Christopher Columbus A. was trained as a sailor through his long service to Italy. B. was a man of little ambition. C. believed that Asia could only be reached by sailing east. D. believed the Americas consisted of a few islands. E. thought the world was much smaller than it was in reality. 7. Amerigo Vespucci A. sailed on the voyages...
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...materials back to Britain. One of the raw materials in great demand from the new world was tobacco. Tobacco basically made family farms and large plantations wealthy and brought the new world into the global market (Brown, 2001). As tobacco became more and more popular, money made from the tobacco was put back into more land in order to grow more tobacco. The primary labor for this came from indentured servants. Due to the demand for tobacco the indentured servants were worked extremely hard and Brown (2001) writes “…the misery of indentured laborers who complained of being bought and sold like slaves” would only increase as farmers and plantation owners continue to expand their lands. Towards the end of the 17th century indentured servants would dwindle and the labor force would be largely met with African slaves. As the English empire grew slavery expanded gradually, Britain’s role in the slave trade matured, and enslaved Africans became more available throughout Virginia. By the end of the 1600s slaves had begun to replace white indentured servants among the Virginia’s large plantation owners. By the late 1600s, slaves accounted for nearly all of a plantations workforce but only 25 to 40 percent of smaller farms (McCartney and Wolf, 2015). McCartney and Wolf (2015) also...
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...Indentured Servitude vs. Slavery African Slaves 1670 1770 North 1,125 3,410 South 48,460 411,362 Colonial Slave Revolts • 1663 - First serious slave conspiracy in Colonial America, Sept. 13. Servant betrayed plot of White servants and Negro slaves in Gloucester County, Va. • 1712 - Slave revolt, New York, April 7. Nine Whites killed. Twentyone slaves executed. • 1730 - Slave conspiracy discovered in Norfolk and Princess Anne counties, Va. • 1739 - Slave revolt, Stono, S.C., Sept 9. Twenty-five Whites killed before insurrection was put down. • 1741 - Series of suspicious fires and reports of slave conspiracy led to general hysteria in New York City, March and April. Thirty-one slaves, five Whites executed. • 1773 - Massachusetts slaves petitioned legislature for freedom, Jan. 6. There is a record of 8 petitions during Revolutionary War period. The First Arrivals • 1619 in Jamestown • 20 Africans brought by the Dutch and traded to the English • English used them as workers on tobacco plantations • By 1660, slavery as we know it was established in Virginia NPS image In a detail from NPS artist Keith Rocco's painting of a Jamestown waterside scene in the 1660s, enslaved African load hogshead barrels of tobacco aboard a ship bound for England. NPS Image In a detail from NPS artist Keith Rocco's painting of a Jamestown waterside scene in the 1660s, newly-arrrived Africans are inspected by an English settler. Where...
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...As Colonial America commenced, a wide labor force became a necessity in order to progress economically through developments such as the mass production of tobacco. During this period, no slave laws were set in place, which caused Africans to be treated as indentured servants, in which they too were given similar freedom dues as white folks. Between 1640 and 1660, however, racial slavery developed into a legal reality in Virginia. While interracial marriage or sex was banned and would result in banishment, as time progressed, laws changed, resulting in imprisonment and children were being subject to servitude. The ambiguous status of mixed race children shifted from the early Virginia laws which did not stipulate the child’s status, whereas the shift in laws later mandated that children were to serve according to their mother’s status revealing that the intent of these laws was to secure the ruling class’ desire to obtain as much labor as...
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...June 19, 2013 Writing Assignment 1 U.S History I During the Colonial Periods of the 17th and 18th century many people came to America as indentured servants. There were many reasons for these people to choose to come to America, but the most prominent is that each was seeking a better life for him or herself. The personal accounts in the readings gives us different views as to the way these indentured servants were treated as well as to the reasons that one would leave his or her native land to become an indentured servant. These personal accounts also help us to understand why the African slavery force took over and replaced the European indentured servants. Many people came as an indentured servant thinking this was a way to a better life in America. Many of these immigrants financed their migration by signing a contract that obligated them to a certain amount of time or “fixed term”. After completion of their time they were to receive their freedom and enjoy all the privileges of America. Unfortunately this was usually not the case. Mittelberger stated that those why have no formal contracts “were auctioned off to the highest bidder upon arrival”. He later wrote a book explaining the dangers of migrating to the new world. These personal accounts give us a grim view of the quality of life for the indentured servant. Mittlelberger gave us the best description of the troubles of these people as soon as they boarded the ship. Many became sick and died on...
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...1. When Christopher Columbus reached the New World in 1492, he found a. cultures so primitive that Spain thought the area could not be developed. b. hundreds of cultures with nearly 400 different languages. c. one large, common native culture with basically one language. d. only barren landscape without humans. 2. Spain and Portugal were among the first European nations that e. abandoned the feudal system and adopted democracy. f. accepted the authority of a single hereditary monarch for the entire country. g. adopted an established religion that everyone must honor. h. converted their monetary system to the euro. 3. When Christopher Columbus sailed westward seeking Asia, his goal was to i. carry the Gospel to unsaved peoples throughout the world. j. find new lands for Spain to conquer and exploit. k. locate an all-water route to Lilliputia. l. reestablish trade routes interrupted by the bubonic plague. 4. Traders sought new trading opportunities primarily to have access to m. better medicines to help Europeans conquer the Black Death. n. expanded power and influence in case of the need for additional crusades. o. luxuries such as sugar and spices demanded by the elite. p. staple foods to sustain Europe’s large peasant population. 5. At the time of Christopher Columbus’s first voyage, most Europeans q. acknowledged...
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...The Columbian Exchange was a product of the European colonization of the Americas before slavery became institutionalized. Nathaniel Bacon's insurrection made the authorities recognize that the indentured slaves would continue to fight against the laborers as long as the colonists changed their system to take indentured servants as laborers. As a result, they began using Africans as a new labor force. The elimination of indentured servants, and the justification of slavery by religion, caused the economic need for cheap labor. Important causes like the ones listed above all contributed to the institution of slavery between 1607 and 1770. The time-chart graph, Number of Indentured Servants and Slaves per Probate Inventory, York County, Virginia,...
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