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Indentured Servants Research Paper

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Indentured Servants Research Paper
Indentured Servants Throughout U.S. history the United States has encountered many stressful and life taking hardships, and all for what? For the world to continue growing, for each individual to feel safe and to be created equal. History is a word that we look upon and think of famous people who changed our way of living, who went beyond what they were capable of in order to be remembered. People like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John Hancock, all these men did great things. Yet we still forget to remember those who went through terrible hardships in order to survive back in those days. I’m talking about indentured servants; these particular individuals lived lives we couldn’t even imagine. The hardships they went through are unforgettable, …show more content…
A job that transports you to a multiple of places where all you can do is work, for no money, and food that is rotten, unbearable life styles, being packed densely while being transported across the ocean. On a ship where the water is black and warm food is served only three times a week, indentured servants were pretty much manipulated into thinking they would be taken care of. Labor was hard and living conditions were generally harsh for indentured servants. Many servants had difficulty adjusting to the climate and native diseases of southeast Virginia, and many servants did not live to receive their freedom. In the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, many colonists arrived as indentured servants who would serve a term of hardworking labor before receiving their freedom. Men, women, and sometimes children signed a contract with a "master" to serve a term of 4 to 7 years. In exchange for their service, indentured servants received their passage paid from England, and food, clothing and shelter once they arrived in the colony. When the contract had expired, the servant was paid "freedom dues" and allowed to leave the plantation. Freedom dues usually consisted of corn, tools and clothing freedom back then meant a lot to anyone who was a human being it meant that you could live your own life without anyone’s say so. So being an …show more content…
Living in the Chesapeake building spacious mansions needed a lot of people’s labor in order to finish the job so most small farmers were tenants, renting the land from larger landowners. Elizabeth needed more than clothing though she was pretty much naked when working she had no shoes nor stalking to wear, she didn’t even have a bed to sleep in all she could do was wrap herself in a blanket where she would rest her body in order to survive a hard day’s work in order to wake up in the morning only so she could do the same routine until her debt was paid off. Elizabeth Sprigs wasn’t the only indentured servant who lived this horrible life indentured servants ranged in millions. About 70% of migrants from England who came between 1630-1660 were indentured servants. These people’s lives consisted of nothing but work in the worst possible conditions and most unfair treatment you can imagine. Being an indentured servant meant sacrificing your well being in order to be free again, there really was no escaping this hurtful unlawful labor. Female indentured servants were often raped without legal recourse. Master’s often whipped and beat their indentured servants if you tried to run away from
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