Indentured Servants In American History

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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.

Indentured servants were laborers who worked legally for landowners and producers who produced food, clothing, etc. ("Indentured Servants." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Riggs”). Landowners had lots of land to care for, but no one to care for it. Landowners and producers were …show more content…
Voluntary indentured servants were servants that were trained to work in a craft or skill. Most servants in North America were voluntary indentured servants ("Indentured Servants." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Carson”). Involuntary indentured servants were servants who were impoverished or criminals who were sentenced to servitude ("Indentured Servants." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Riggs”).

Indentured servants worked under a contract for a certain period of time until they were freed (“Africans”). The voluntary servants worked for a period of 4-7 years for a colonial master ("Indentured Servants." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Carson”). The involuntary servants worked for a period of 7-14 years for a colonial master. The involuntary servants usually worked much longer than the voluntary servants ("Indentured Servants." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas …show more content…
Economic History, edited by Thomas Riggs”). Even though the involuntary servants had a longer contract than voluntary servants, they were still granted land, tools or money by the former master ("Indentured Servants." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Carson”).

The indentured servants typically worked for a period of 4-7 years. Sometimes more or less depending on their age and how hard they worked ("Indentured Servants." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Carson”). The former servants were pushed westward and pioneer farmers wanted permanent slaves; so this is how some of the indentured servants were freed ("Indentured Servants." Ushistory.org.).

Some indentured servants would take the risk of running away. If servants were told they would not get freedom, often times they would runaway ("Indentured Servants." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Carson”). If runaway servants were captured their punishment was by increasing their time of service and more work ("Indentured Servants."
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