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Similarities Between Slavery And Indentured Servitude

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Is it right for an individual to own another individual? The answer would be no. However, in the early 17th and 18th centuries, slavery and being an indentured servant was a cost effective system which wealthy land owners used to help boost the colonial economy. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, slavery is the submission to a dominating influence, and indentured servitude is a person who signs and is bound by indentures to work for another person for a specified time; especially in return for payment or travel expenses and maintenance. Slavery and indentured servitude both had a lot of similarities to them.
For example, both groups of people were considered personal property. Their descendants could be sold or inherited. The laws were the same for both male and female of both groups. They both worked under extreme hardships and difficulties. …show more content…

For example, indenture servants were immigrants from Europe who came to America seeking a better life. As oppose to slaves that were taken from their homeland and forced into slavery. Second, indentured servants had contracts where they had to work four to seven years in exchange for paid passage, room, loggings, and freedom dues. As oppose to slavery, slaves were forced into ships, chain and beaten into submission to go to America and become cheap labor for a life time. During this time, the growth of rice, tobacco, an indigo was on the rise. This had created a great need for wealthy land owners to find labor to harvest the crops. In 1607, indentured servitude was created in Jamestown by the Virginia Company. The need to harvest the crops was so much in demand that the Virginia Company created a system where they would attract cheap labor to work the plots of land. It was also during this time, that the European immigrants were desperate for a change; after being left to die in failing European economy due to the

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