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Indentured Servants In The 17th Century

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Unfree laborers in the Colonial period were the institutional turning point of having slaves and indentured servants. Slaves and indentured servants were the primary means of the wealthy in America at this time and were seen throughout many colonies. Either as a slave or an indentured servant, the person was expected and required to work in fields to maintain crops, as a house servant, or of anything else the master chose for them to do. The treatments of both had their similarities but also having their differences. During this time period indentured servants were treated more fairly, whereas the slaves were treated unfairly. Unfree laborers played many different roles in society as it shaped the economy of the various colonies. It allowed …show more content…

The indentured servants came to the new world because they were in search of better opportunities and a better lifestyle. Its emergence in the seventeenth century in Virginia can be seen as a development convenient to the circumstances surrounding the colony. Indentured servants were able to come to the new world and work for four to seven years and as a result be able to gain their freedom and headright land. It was seen that many of indentured servants had more rights over what the slaves had. For example, a man named Anthony Johnson an African-American, lived in Chesapeake and came to Virginia in 1621 to work as a servant. Anthony Johnson worked for the Bennett family but was able to work for a reward, which was gaining his own land. Johnson was able to get married and have a family, get baptized, and earn his freedom …show more content…

For example Quomino is an African American who was able to come to New England with different types of clothing such as a new jacket, breeches, two pairs of pants, and two linen shirts. He was able to speak good English, which means that his master must have allowed him to receive some sort of education . In the middle colonies indentured servants also seem to be the primary source of labor. In the 18th century it was seen that one-third of migrants were indentured servants that moved to Pennsylvania. The servants in the middle colonies were skilled and were able to have families. There was also African-American slaves seen in the middle colonies but they were also very

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