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Essay On Indentured Servitude

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The land now known as the United States was once settled only by Natives. It was later discovered and partially occupied by the Spanish and the Portuguese. Soon after, England followed in their footsteps and settled colonies along the East Coast. England’s reign went from Maine (then called Massachusetts) to Georgia. The colonies themselves had different purposes, due to the differences in climate, but all colonies had some amount of indentured servitude. Indentured servants were people who could not pay for their journey to the New World, so they would work for a master for four-seven years and then pursue a life of their own. In the early years of the colonies, indentured servitude was more abundant than slavery because of price and the rewards …show more content…

According to PBS in their article “From Indentured Servitude to Racial Slavery”, ex-indentured servants caused a threat to those higher up on the social scale than them, due to that fact that they were angry about receiving sub-par land due to the colonial restrictions on native lands. This fueled the people of this workforce to revolt against Jamestown in 1676, under the rule of Nathaniel Bacon. The long-lasting effect of Bacon’s Rebellion made the English colonizers of the New World wonder if a turn to slavery would end up being a safer and more cost-effective road for them to …show more content…

Slowly, indentured servitude began to collapse in on itself, and colonial masters were forced to find a new method of labor, and it ended up being the use of black slaves. Indentured servitude was an extremely profitable venture in it’s beginning, but the disputes of ex-indentured servants in addition to a new higher cost. Slaves could be purchased at local auctions, and you could receive many from just one purchase, because the owner of the slave was in fact the owner of the future children and grandchildren of that slave. The negative effects of indentured servitude resulted in America’s future dependence on slavery, if only they knew the effect that their decision of slavery would have on the country’s

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The New England colonies that settled in North America were predominantly composed of the Puritans, which originated in the rectification of protestant in England. Furthermore, they were the first of the English colony to bestow legal authorization to slavery, recognizing human captivity was acceptable in 1641. Hence, the 1641 bylaw is not purposely aimed for a certain tribe or ethnic group. During that period, there were also white men that were prisoner of war that were sold in some parts in the Caribbean. On the other hand, the Chesapeake colonies (including Virginia and Maryland), who made its mark during the 17th century composed of 70 to 85 percent white settlers were actually “Indentures”, meaning, that they are indebted to whomever

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The Chesapeake colonies grew up on cash crops, whisking up indigo, rice, and tobacco to make ends meet. However, once they began having intentions to mass produce they had to look for a cheap method of labor. That’s when the south adopted the idea of indentured servants, which was soon to be questioned because of a rebellion. Nevertheless, it was a mistake for them that they would learn to “fix” by replacing those indentured servants with African slaves because it was more efficient and helpful. The placement of African slaves in this system led to the creation of the Barbados Slave Codes in 1661 that led to the formation of superiority between whites and blacks.

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