Admin What did indentured servant mean?
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. However, indentured servants could be sold, loaned, or inherited, at least during the duration of their contract terms.
How are indentured servants different from slaves?
Indentured servitude differed from slavery in that it was a form of debt bondage, meaning it was an agreed upon term of unpaid labor that usually paid off the costs of the servant’s immigration to America. Indentured servants were not paid wages but they were generally housed, clothed, and fed.
Why were indentured servants bad?
Harsh Environment. Indentured servants were frequently overworked, especially on the Southern plantations during planting and harvesting season. If indentured servants ran away to escape their horrible conditions, they could be punished with additional time added on to their contracts.
What is an indentured person?
Definition of indentured servant : a person who signs and is bound by indentures to work for another for a specified time especially in return for payment of travel expenses and maintenance.
When were indentured servants?
Indentured servants first arrived in America in the decade following the settlement of Jamestown by the Virginia Company in 1607. The idea of indentured servitude was born of a need for cheap labor. The earliest settlers soon realized that they had lots of land to care for, but no one to care for it.
How did indentured servants differ from slavery?
Indentured servitude differed from chattel slavery because indentured servants are people who were willing to work to get transportation, land, clothes, food, or shelter instead of money.
What is the difference between slavery and indentured servitude?
The difference is that Indentured Servitude is temporary and voluntary while slavery is compulsory . Terms of the indenture were negotiated beforehand.
Why did slavery replace indentured servitude?
Because of abolitionism or the movement to end human slavery which became widespread, slavery was replaced by indentured servitude in the colonies. Tags: abolitionism, servitude, colony. Thursday, February 02 2012.
What does indentured servitude mean?
What is ‘Indentured Servitude’. Indentured servitude refers to a labor contract where someone is required to work for a landowner or another individual, typically for a period of five to seven years, in exchange for an expensive passage out of Europe.