Who were indentured servants in America?
Indentured servants were men and women who signed a contract (also known as an indenture or a covenant) by which they agreed to work for a certain number of years in exchange for transportation to Virginia and, once they arrived, food, clothing, and shelter.
How were indentured servants different from slaves?
Indentured servitude differed from slavery in that it was a form of debt bondage, meaning it was an agreed upon term of unpaid labor that usually paid off the costs of the servant’s immigration to America. Indentured servants were not paid wages but they were generally housed, clothed, and fed.
What did indentured servants do?
Some indentured servants served as cooks, gardeners, housekeepers, field workers, or general laborers; others learned specific trades such as blacksmithing, plastering, and bricklaying, which they could choose to turn into careers later.
What role did convict servants play in the development of the 13 American colonies?
While the law provoked outrage among many colonists — Benjamin Franklin equated it to packing up North American rattlesnakes and sending them all to England — the influx of ex-convicts provided cheap and immediate labor for many planters and merchants.
Which colonial region had the most slaves?
In fact, throughout the colonial period, Virginia had the largest slave population, followed by Maryland.
Why did African slavery replace indentured servants?
The colonial elite realized the problems of indentured servitude. Landowners turned to African slaves as a more profitable and ever-renewable source of labor and the shift from indentured servants to racial slavery had begun.
Why did colonies switch from indentured servants to slaves?
Why did 50000 convicts prisoners come to the colonies?
Railton’s in-depth research indicates that many British convicts traveled to their destination on uncomfortable, rat-infested cargo ships. Crimes that attracted banishment were ones against society, such as theft and deception. The most common crime committed by British convicts shipped to America was theft.
What are convict servants?
Convicted criminals were punished with either three- or seven-year sentences as unpaid servants in the colonies. Listen to find out who these people were and how they played a role in the United States colonial history.
Was Nathaniel Bacon an indentured servant?
Many Virginians, including many unemployed former indentured servants, thought the governor stood on the wrong side of this issue. In 1673, Nathaniel Bacon, a distant relative of Governor Berkeley, emigrated from England under murky circumstances and set up a small plantation on the James River.