Indentured Servant Essay

Submitted By Avish-Patel
Words: 1276
Pages: 6
Open Document
Avish Patel
Composition 1101
Mrs. Ray Stokes
12/1/2014
Indenture Servant: The Life of a College Athlete
College Sports are a twelve billion dollar a year industry (C. Giannetti). Each university participating in the NCAA tournaments and games earns millions of dollars for their athletic program through ticket sales, donations or anything else with a price tag. Every day the students put their blood, sweat, and tears into practices, games and classrooms, yet only the people around them profit from their misery. College student athletes deserve their share of profits in the way of a salary because it can allow them to profit for as long as they are able to play. The concept of college sports is tied together by a non-profit organization called the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It is dedicated to safeguarding the well-being of student-athletes and equipping them with the skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life (NCAA.org). They set the rules for the college sports that are followed by every student athlete from the twelve hundred universities that are part of it. The College Student Athletes must abide by the code of amateurism, which prohibits any college athlete from accepting any kind of payments or benefits beyond the scholarships (R. Finkel, T. Martin, and J. Paley, “Schooled: The Price of College Sports”). Every year the student athletes have to sign a contract presenting them as an amateur athlete that cannot be paid or receive any endorsements from companies or the school. The failure to sign the agreement would give the NCAA the right to ban the athlete from playing his or her sport and revoke the scholarship received. Therefore, being under contract, the student athletes are obliged to follow the rules created by the NCAA (“Schooled: The Price of College Sports”). According to the leading activist against the NCAA, Taylor Branch believes “College athletes do not have fundamental rights such as the right to representation, or no due process, the right of a free citizen to seek compensation for services that are valuable.” A convicted felon has more rights in the constitution than a college athlete has played in the system of the NCAA. Throughout history the best athletes have made money. Ancient Greek athletes received the best prizes worth substantial amount of money, lived in the greatest of homes and gained power in the government (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology). There are billions of dollars generated by the players every year for their school, coaches, businesses, and the NCAA. The coaches are making millions a year and receive perks such as bonuses, assistant coaches, fancy stadiums, and endorsement deals. The university brings in millions of dollars through ticket sales, donations, media rights, advertising, and corporate sponsorship. The NCAA recently signed a $10.8 billion television contract with CBS sports (The Huffington Post). These events occur because of the labor of the nineteen year old kids on the field and on the court. In return for fueling this industry of college sports, the student athletes promise something priceless: a free education. This is the definition of indentured servant. The NCAA is on its way to become a billion-dollar industry by regulating the players to the point of exploitation. I believed that a college degree is an invaluable asset, many Americans find trouble to afford, but these athletes were very fortunate to receive a free education. After research and collaboration with College athletes, I realized that student athletes are in a situation the rest can’t relate to. A typical college athlete begins his or her day in the weight room from 6 am to 9 am, attend classes from 10 am to 1 pm, be in team meetings from two to three, practice until six, work with tutors, then do homework (C. Giannetti). In exchange for their scholarship, football and basketball players are expected to meet
Show More

Related Documents: Indentured Servant Essay

Indentured Servants

Indentured Servants and slaves both worked hard labor for others, but their prospects were very different. The biggest similarity between indentured servants and slaves is that they worked for others without receiving any pay. Through changes in the European economy and culture as well as the implementation of new laws in America, indentured servitude reduced over time while slavery increased. Indentured servants were people who worked for others without pay in order to travel to the American colonies…

Words 675 - Pages 3

Indentured Servants In America

and indentured servants as a labor force was popular among English settlers who could buy and sell them as they pleased. Settlers fortunate enough to pay for their passage to America could arrive with freedom, but those remaining two thirds who couldn’t arrived as indentured servants (Eric Foner, ed., Give Me Liberty, 54). As for the Africans, they had no choice in freedom, they were sold off and transported to America as slaves. While the key difference between slaves and indentured servants is the…

Words 450 - Pages 2

Indentured Servants Thesis

About 80% of British and American immigrants were indentured servants. Indentured servants were a huge part of the American history because indentured servitude started slavery. There are three main questions that people will ask about indentured servants, what they are, what they did, and how they become free. Even though the life of an indentured servant was not considered slavery, they still lived a very harsh life during this period.…

Words 70 - Pages 1

Indentured Servants In Jamestown

sought out cheap labor by use of indentured servants. Slavery first appears in Virginia in the early 1600s by way of indentured servants. Most indentured servants were brought over from Britain to serve as labors. An indentured servant was required to sign a contract agreeing to work a set number of years in exchange for their travel to America. It was not until the 1680s that slavery became the lead force of labor in Virginia. The decrease of indentured servants was on the rise. The plantation…

Words 254 - Pages 2

Indentured Servants Essay

America had indentured servants as the primary source of labor to their master. African Americans were free once they completed the amount of years of labor for their contract. Most of the indentured servants were also promised “freedom dues” which consist of supplies and necessities that a free man needed to make their own farm, including African Americans. However there were many problems that arose when the servants became free and had their own land. First, when indentured servants finally complete…

Words 676 - Pages 3

Indentured Servants Dbq

The dehumanization of slaves and indentured servants was significantly similar, but indentured servants had the lifestyle every slave would die to have. Slavery and indentured servitude were the primary reasons of help for the wealthy in America. Either as a slave or as an indentured servant a person was required to work in fields, or maintain crops, The treatment of both was very similar in which they were given no gratitude of being human beings like everyone else, but was treated like a trophy…

Words 1519 - Pages 7

Indentured Servants In America

The United States is the first when indentured servants arrived. The purpose of this was cheap labor because settlers became aware of land that needed responsibility from these servants. (PBS). In the early 18th century, “majority of Europeans who came to the Americas were not elite landholders. They were indentured servants.” (Lowcountry Digital History Initiative). Indentured servants is that they offer themselves for some years to work exchanging not having to pay any expenses to travel overseas…

Words 677 - Pages 3

Frethorne: The Life Of An Indentured Servant

life of an indentured servant was very challenging. There was a slim survival rate and everyone was dying of disease and lacking sufficient nutrition. In his letter, Frethorne describes death, disease, and the possibility of him dying if his servitude is not redeemed. Perhaps the most depressing aspect of the life described in the letter is how the servants were treated. A week of food for an indentured servant was equivalent to a day supply in the colony. Many of Frethorne’s fellow servants had already…

Words 345 - Pages 2

Indentured Servants In American History

80% of British and American immigrants were indentured servants. Indentured servants were a huge part of the American history because indentured servitude started slavery. There are three main questions that people will ask about indentured servants, what they are, what they did, and how they become free. Even though the life of an indentured servant was not considered slavery, they still lived a very harsh life during this period. Indentured servants were laborers who worked legally for landowners…

Words 585 - Pages 3

Summary: Colonial Indentured Servants

a result, indentured servitude and slave labor became an essential piece for developing America. The textbook, Oakes of the People, puts this into perspective by stating, “Those who could take advantage of these opportunities profited wildly, whereas the poor, both white and African, were without defense” (Oakes of the People p. 68). This defenseless system lead to the inhumane treatment endured by the indentured servants and slaves of the time-period. The brutality that the indentured…

Words 1263 - Pages 6