Indentured servants did have some rights, though, at least in theory. For example, they had access to the courts and were entitled to own land. However, masters retained their right to prohibit their servants from marrying and had the authority to sell them to another master at any time. A specific similarity between slavery and indentured servitude is that indentured servants could be sold, loaned, or inherited, at least during the duration of their contract terms.
As a result, some indentured servants performed little work for the landowners who paid for their passage across the Atlantic. Fiscal Policy. Business Essentials.
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We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Your Money. Personal Finance. Your Practice. Popular Courses. What Is Indentured Servitude? Key Takeaways Indentured servitude refers to a contract between two individuals, in which one person worked not for money but to repay an indenture, or loan, within a set time period.
Indentured servitude was not slavery as individuals entered contracts of their own free will. However, indentured servants could be sold, loaned, or inherited, at least during the duration of their contract terms.
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Investopedia does not include all offers available in the marketplace. An indenture is a legal and binding contract, often between a bond issuer and bondholders. Not a member? Sign up for My OBO. Already a member? Publications Pages Publications Pages. Subscriber sign in You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Username Please enter your Username. Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution. You could not be signed in, please check and try again.
Sign in with your library card Please enter your library card number. Vincent, St. Related Articles Expand or collapse the "related articles" section about About Related Articles close popup. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Introduction Between and , western European governments allowed their planters in the Caribbean to import an estimated , Indian indentured servants from India to work on their plantations. General Overviews The mere fact that this is the first time anyone is writing on and contributing to Asian indentured servitude in Atlantic History reveals the marginalization of the field at the international, national and regional level.
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Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. In both cases, the authorities were notififed before the plans could be carried out, and the conspirators were punished. According to Berkeley, four of the Gloucester County conspirators were hanged for their actions. The General Assembly did pass legislation aimed at protecting servants from mistreatment.
In , the assembly further directed masters not to make bargains with their servants in an attempt to trick or manipulate them into extended terms of service. Other acts aimed to protect the limited rights of Virginia Indian servants. Of course, these laws were neither preventative nor always enforced; rather, they reflected the harsh reality of servitude in Virginia, a reality that, as time passed, became less and less distinct from chattel slavery. Morgan wrote.
For much of the seventeenth century, those servants were white English men and women—with a smattering of Africans, Indians, and Irish—under indenture with the promise of freedom. Most historians have explained this shift by citing either social or economic shifts in Virginia beginning around the s. By harnessing that discontent and, in the name of racial solidarity, pointing it in the direction of enslaved Africans, white elites could create a more stable workforce and one that was less likely to threaten their own interests.
Other historians have observed that the flow of English servants began to dry up beginning in the s and fell off dramatically around , forcing planters to rely more heavily on slaves. Slavery did not end indentured servitude, in other words; the end of servitude gave rise to slavery. The historian John C. Over time, as the supply of enslaved Africans increased and their prices decreased, farmers and planters agreed that they preferred a slave for life to a servant who had the hope of freedom.
Even so, indentured servants—particularly those with specialized skills—and convict servants continued to be imported to the colony throughout the eighteenth century. Encyclopedia Virginia Grady Ave. Virginia Humanities acknowledges the Monacan Nation , the original people of the land and waters of our home in Charlottesville, Virginia.
We invite you to learn more about Indians in Virginia in our Encyclopedia Virginia. Skip to content. Contributor: Brendan Wolfe. Origins Servitude had a long history in England, dating back to medieval serfdom. Land and Labor Merchants of Virginia. Tobacco Tamper. A Virginia Indian in a headdress holds a bow in one hand and tobacco leaves in the other.
William Buckland Palladian Room. The formal, Palladian-style room in Gunston Hall features rococo woodwork. June The English Parliament passes the Ordinance of Labourers, declaring that all men and women under the age of sixty who do not practice a craft must serve anyone requiring their labor. January 12, The English Parliament passes the Statute of Artificers, which compiles and revises years' worth of law regarding indentured servitude.
It is still in effect when Jamestown is founded in He is awarded the next open appointment as prebendary of Bristol Cathedral, which he will take up in November 18, The Virginia Company of London issues its "Instructions to George Yeardley," which include the establishment of the General Assembly and the headright system.
These instructions come to be known as the Great Charter. August 4, The General Assembly passes a law requiring all servants to register with the secretary of state upon arrival in Virginia. September 7, Robert Coopy of North Nibley, Gloucester, England, age unknown, signs a three-year indenture to work as a servant for the proprietors of the Berkeley Hundred plantation in Virginia.
During the same time, shipping costs decrease. John Pott. July 18, The Virginia Company of London declares its intention to pay to ship new settlers to Virginia, including tenants, apprentices, young women, and indentured servants. March 30, In a petition addressed to the governor and General Court, the indentured servant Jane Dickenson pleads for her release from Dr.
A former prisoner of Virginia Indians, Dickenson claims that Pott's treatment of her is worse. October 10, The General Court hears testimony concerning the deaths of two indentured servants, Elizabeth Abbott and Elias Hinton, at the hands of their masters, John and Alice Proctor. January 31, The General Court hears testimony in the case of an indentured servant, William Mutch, who allegedly was attacked by his master after he demanded his so-called freedom dues, or the payment servants customarily receive upon completion of their contracts.
The large majority of these newcomers are men. March The Dutchman David Pieterson DeVries visits Virginia and makes note of the high mortality rate among newcomers and the poor treatment of indentured servants. March The General Assembly passes laws regulating the time served by servants without indentures, requiring servants to carry certificates, prohibiting masters from hiring servants without proper papers, and punishing servants who become pregnant.
July 31, The Lower Norfolk County Court considers two depositions that attest to the mistreatment, by Deborah Fernehaugh, of her indentured servant Charetie Dallen.
March The General Assembly passes laws revising the required time of service for servants without indentures; granting servants the right to take complaints to court; and adding time to indentures, in the case of pregnancy and secret marriages, to male and female servants both.
Many scholars believe the author to be Richard Allestree. March The General Assembly passes laws requiring "suffitient" diet and clothing for servants making their transatlantic voyage, prohibiting "cruell" treatment once they arrive in Virginia, and requiring large fines to be paid to the local parish by the master of any servant who becomes pregnant.
December The General Assembly passes two laws stipulating that the children of servants who become pregnant should be handed over to the church, and that, upon their freedom, the mothers should serve the parish for two years as reimbursement. March 14, Lott Richards, a merchant from Bristol, England, sells "one Sarvant boy by name William [F]reeman being about eleven yeares old and haveing noe indenture" to John Barnes for a term of eight years.
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