...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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... 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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...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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...became indentured servants in order to get there. Africans came to the new world forcefully, in order to assist in the quickly growing labor needs. Although indentured servants and slaves had similarities, they had even more differences. Indentured servants came to the new world by working for families that moved to the new world. Slaves were brought to the new world by traders. Indentured servants were under contract with whoever they worked for. This contract typically lasted an average of seven years and then they were given their freedom (Schultz, 2012).Indentured servants were all Europeans, so in the new world it was difficult to tell the difference between them and another European. This ultimately led to many of the indentured servants running away to other colonies (Schultz, 2012). Slaves were black African’s so they stood out among the people. When slaves first arrived in the new world many were treated like indentured servants, and some were even given their freedom. This equal treatment did not last for very long though. The Europeans quickly adopted the thought that since African slaves were racially different that they should be treated differently as well. Eventually they created “slave laws” that outlined the general rules associated with slaves. One of these laws stated that once a slave was purchased, they were considered “property” of whoever bought them, and they belonged to them until they died. Another law stated that any child of a female slave also...
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...Religion Polytheistic Monotheistic Monotheistic Christian-based religious beliefs Monotheistic Christian-based religious beliefs Polytheistic Write a 350-word essay in which you examine one of the following topics about how the groups clashed: • Pilgrims and Native Americans in Massachusetts • The kidnapping of colonists by Native Americans • Pequot War • Jamestown’s relationships with Native Americans • The differences between indentured servants and slaves • Racial issues in the 17th century • The Deerfield Massacre • The early anti-slavery movement • The enslavement of Native Americans • Biological crossover, with a focus on disease Cite at least two references. Format your essay consistent with APA guidelines. The differences between indentured servants and slaves Before the Civil War their where slaves and Indentured servants who where human beings yet was considered personal property. These slaves and indentured servants was sold or inherited by their owners. Indentured servants came to America in 1607. Indentured Servants was born...
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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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...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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...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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...Explosion of African slaves had happened between 1680 and 1700 because of what the aristocrats realized after Bacon’s rebellion. Bacon’s rebellion was in response to poor white men who did not have land or work after their indentured servitude was up. The rebellion was led by Nathaniel Bacon, who led a biracial group of poor whites and African. During these times, many field workers were indentured servants, these were people who were poor Europeans that signed contracts that allowed them to come to the New World, the contract stipulated that they must serve anywhere from three to seven years of hard labor on farm land generally tobacco farms. They were promised land once they had completed their time, however most indentured servants did not live to see their end of their contracted...
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...demand. They brought in European indentured workers and even attempted to use captured Native Americans, but would only result in disruption of their lucrative deerskin trade. Modeling after the sugar growers, the planters decided to use African slaves in their newly developed labor camp plantations. Due to the increasing number of African people coming to the colonies, there had to be some legal social division between them and the English. After wresting with the idea of slaves receiving their freedom if they converted to Christianity, it was decided that they could not and that the determining factor of slavery would be if a person looked European (white). Slaves had no legal rights nor did they receive any pay. Indentured servants and black...
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...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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...The colonies in the eighteenth century had a massive increase in population. As some of this is due to natural increase, there was still immigration from all across Europe, mostly as indentured servants, and the importation of slavery from Africa. Since the colonies were becoming so diverse, there were many tensions that came about. Some of these tensions caused a significant event in history known as the Salem witch trials. One of the most important tensions that arose is the difference of inequality between the rich and the poor. As indentured servants were released after their obligation, they were left with no money and had to fully fend for themselves. There were also many different religions as immigration extended beyond England to other European countries. Each religion found theirs to be the true religion and therefore many people had many different beliefs and arguments. Since there was becoming a greater distance between the rich and the poorer, the two groups had a hard time agreeing upon certain things. The wealthier residents were considered to be more privileged and therefore things went more their way. This lead the poorer residents of Salem to at times, to lash out towards the richer, or their servants, with what was...
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...Midterm Essay #1: Question #1: Northern, Middle, and Southern Colonies Compare and Contrast America has always been a land of diversity but also a land of unity. This statement also applied to the first English settlements that were established here in North America. In the beginning years of America, the colonies could be divided into three regional areas: New England colonies, middle colonies and the southern colonies. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island comprised the northern colonies; New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania made up the middle colonies; and Virginia, Maryland, Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia composed the southern colonies. These three colonial areas had both similarities and differences that will be analyzed in respects to their economic base, political structures, and attitudes toward slavery established in these three regional areas throughout this essay. Although many different types of Europeans founded the colonies throughout the eastern seaboard they were some similarities as to how they were established and how they made their economic bases. Throughout the Norton text I’ve noticed that all of the colonies were established through some sort of business enterprise, whether it was through the Massachusetts Bay Company, or the Virginia Company, or even a lone entrepreneur, looking to make a fortune for them. These businesses were all expected to turn a profit, some of them did and some of them didn’t. However all...
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...Compare and Contrast America has always been a land of diversity but also a land of unity. This statement also applied to the first English settlements that were established here in North America. In the beginning years of America, the colonies could be divided into three regional areas: New England colonies, middle colonies and the southern colonies. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island comprised the northern colonies; New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania made up the middle colonies; and Virginia, Maryland, Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia composed the southern colonies. These three colonial areas had both similarities and differences that will be analyzed in respects to their economic base, political structures, and attitudes toward slavery established in these three regional areas throughout this essay. Although many different types of Europeans founded the colonies throughout the eastern seaboard they were some similarities as to how they were established and how they made their economic bases. Throughout the Norton text I’ve noticed that all of the colonies were established through some sort of business enterprise, whether it was through the Massachusetts Bay Company, or the Virginia Company, or even a lone entrepreneur, looking to make a fortune for them. These businesses were all expected to turn a profit, some of them did and some of them didn’t. However all of the hard work that was done and all of the profit made...
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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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