Historical Analysis: Indentured Servitude's Parallels with Slavery

This essay delves into the historical context of indentured servitude, particularly in 17th-century England and its colonies, examining its relationship to slavery. It explores how economic factors, such as inflation and the demand for labor in the New World, led to the widespread use of indentured servants. The essay highlights the conditions of servitude, including the terms of service, the origins of servants from England, Ireland, Germany, and Scotland, and the advantages it offered to planters. It further analyzes the shift from indentured servitude to slavery, driven by economic considerations and changing labor dynamics. The essay also draws parallels between historical practices and modern-day contract work, touching upon issues of labor laws, discrimination, and the enduring impact of these historical systems on social structures and prejudice. The essay uses multiple sources to build a strong argument. The essay examines the economic benefits of indentured servitude for England and its colonies.

ESSAY

Essay Question: To what extent was indentured servitude slavery?
By turning pages back to history, whenever the term "indentured servitude" is used in some
way, it signifies a slave worker. This implies that it is a worker who is working under a
contract for a certain period of time. Such a worker is employed for another person assumed
to be an employer without being paid in return for housing, clothing, and other necessities, or
rather a transit to a new world. As per evidence, indentured servants were used by European
settlers on the Caribbean island in the 16th and 17th centuries. In reality, England was among
the countries in the world with the highest rates of indentured servitude, especially during the
1600s (Gordon-Reed, 2018). In relation to this, England founded colonies in Northern
America and the West Indies mostly during 17th century. As a result, Jamestown, Virginia
became the first settled colony in North America. One more settled in Bermuda, as well as
other sections of the area, along the same lines.
It is important to note that the English economy is primarily powered by the selling of wool
that served as the primary source of foreign exchange. In this context, there was a lot of
inflation in the late sixteenth century, and England had no choice but to react. In this regard,
England reacted to inflationary factors by increasing wool output, which had an impact on the
domestic market. These were accompanied by the merger of marked fields into larger ones in
order to provide pasture lands for the growing demand for sheep for wool production. Many
citizens were left lacking land as a result, and they were forced to engage in many other
harmful and poor practises such as slavery and stealing, among others. Essentially, this
agreement resulted in the movement of the dispossessed in England to colonies in America,
as well as the trade of many others for jobs, as well as the movement of several other
offenders. In this context, it has been figured out that English elites created institutions such
as the Virginia Company, which dominated vast swaths of American territory. To put it
another way, the given company operations were supposed to profit from tobacco, which was
a new product at the time and had gained prominence across Europe (Morretta, 2017).
Maryland colony was founded, as was Pennsylvania colony, among many other colonies. To
be exact, English settlers were established from the Chesapeake Bay north; Jamestown was
established in 1607, Plymouth in 1620, Boston in 1630, St. Mary's in 1634, and New York
City, that was formerly known as New Amsterdam, was captured from the Dutch in the year
1684. In addition, in 1681, the Philadelphia settlements was created. At this stage, it is critical
to emphasise that indentured servitude was granted clothes, seeds to plant like tobacco, land,

and cattle as account at the end of the agreed-upon term of service. In the year 1620, when
there was a worker shortage and a resulting crisis in the colonies, indentured servitude was
arguably the most common remedy among Virginia colonists. It's also worth noting that at
this time, England was the primary source of indentured servitude, while later on, Ireland,
Germany, and Scotland were enlisted as well. European immigrants who came to Virginia
came from poor socioeconomic backgrounds in their home countries. They became
indentured servants because they wanted to develop themselves in America by accumulating
wealth and increasing social status in conjunction with the opportunities available. It has also
been noted that, despite the high fatality rate in the colonists, some of which is due to illness
and other such catastrophes, others came to the colony in search of their own perceived
advantages and prospects (Ray, 2017).
Because of the advantages obtained from cheap labour, the introduction of indentured
servitude proved to be a great method for planters. When the indentured servitude were
released and given land to plant tobacco farmers, they proved to be little of a challenge to the
planters who had originally occupied them, and thus the farmers were able to reap the
benefits of high tobacco plantation. The case study, on the other hand, faced an increasing
population of indentured servants on release in the mid-eighteenth century, who succeeded
due to lower death rates. In reaction, the Virginians attempted to suppress them by
maintaining that profit margins were lowered, sabotaging their efforts. This was achieved by
lowering cigarette rates, resulting in a reduction of income and an extending of the slave's
indenture. This was due to the dominant class's realisation of the economic effectiveness of
employment contract servitudes in the long run. Around the same time, indentured servitude
appeared to be a more cost-effective form of employment than slave buying, which was
prohibitively expensive and followed by high death rates. By 1660, though, things had
changed, and indentured servitude had been replaced by slavery. Indentured servitude was
undoubtedly the prevalent norm in the lives of settlers who were between the ages of 15 and
25 in the 17th century south. As a result, they were given the ability to acquire land in
exchange for 5 to 7 years of service, but this offer was barely kept. This is due to the fact that
the majority of the teenagers died before finishing their service years. In general, there was
little need for slaves during the early years of British occupation. For the most part, the
demand for labour was satisfied by the ready supply provided by indentured servitude, which
spared the colonists of the cost of importing large numbers of Africans to provide such
labour. In fact, between the 16th and 18th centuries, approximately 400, 000 people moved

from England to the New World, whereby they settled into indentured servitude as a result of
being shipped across the Atlantic (Gerbner, 2018).
Throughout this case, economic development was focused on the cultivation of sugar,
tobacco, and ultimately rice, which was largely created by indentured servitude. The majority
of Virginians were English settlers who built an economy based on the production of crops,
which was then shipped to Europe. Tobacco cultivation proved to be extremely profitable,
but it did necessitate a lot of labour. Surprisingly, until the late 17th century, Chesapeake
plantations were staffed by indentured servants who had fled England leading to hardship
brought about by the shrinking economy. Through this, servitudes were indentured for a
duration of four to seven years in exchange for clothing and tools, and in the broader picture,
some were given free land on which to establish their own homelands. Many indentured
slaves were sold by their owners, despite the fact that the contract stated that an indentured
servitude was the owner's property. This provided revenue to the British colonists in New
England, or in short, America, and it is possible that indentured servitude strengthened the
New England economy by supplying output for export to Europe. Agriculture drove the
economy of the colonists in New England and North America, which was facilitated by
indentured servants who worked tirelessly in the fields, resulting in high crop yields
(Shefveland, 2019).
The relocation of the English population to New England and North America has been traced
to a number of factors. As a result, the population of England doubled from 2.3 to 4.8 million
people between 1520s and 1630s. This resulted in negative consequences, especially due to
inflation, or the rise in prices. Furthermore, actual incomes for the workforce have decreased,
lowering the population's standard of living. Famine and crop failures have had an effect on
the economy, making life miserable for the majority of the population. Poverty had engulfed
the majority of the population by the early 17th century, forcing them to seek relief
elsewhere. Essentially, the era between 1620’s and 1680’s was when indentured servant trade
peaked. According to Schultz, North American European colonists required manpower, and
England exported some to their colonists while leaving others at home looking after the
country's economic and political interests. When indentured servants were issued after paying
their debts, they went back to farming and sought to contend with their owners. Because of
the small amount of land they received at the end of their service, indentured servants had no
money to support themselves and their families. From a broader perspective, the colonies in
North America or New England were England's ventures. As a result, it is critical to

emphasise that the economic benefits arising from crop output in the colonies that was then
shipped to European countries were instrumental in England's economic growth.
Simultaneously, the presumed-to-be-cheap workers from England via rights of ownership
mostly through credit agreement that were either forced or willingly transported contributed
to cost-effective labour mobility, resulting in improved productivity and high income. As a
result, the economy in England grew, and average incomes in England started to grow
throughout that time period. Importantly, the existence of indenture economic slavery led to
England's overall economic development (Mendlesohn, 2017).
Indentured servitude, on the other hand, has dominated modern culture and is
expressed in the sense of contract work. A contractual job or work is one in which an
employee is required to work for a specified period of time. In a similar vein, the distinction
is that today, workers must be compensated. This implies that they are paid in the form of
wages or, to put it another way, money. Employees take loans presently, and as a way of
repayment, the payment is made within an agreed-upon period of time, during which the
worker can offer not to take the pay check but instead to compensate the employer by
offering a service. Some other point worth mentioning is that labour laws have been
developed and are still in use today. Such laws regulate the salaries and wages of all workers
while also ensuring that employees are not abused by their managers who want to save
money by increasing employee utilisation. Because of occupational discrimination based on
skin colour or social class, there is a lot of abuse and unfair labour practised. According to
Virginian rule, Africans are obligated to serve as servants for the rest of their lives, which
explains why they are treated unfairly at work.
With the rise of trans-Atlantic trade, indentured servitude became common, and the
only distinction between slavery and indentured servitude is that slavery is a lifelong contract,
while indentures are contract positions. Racism arose as a result of the introduction of
slavery, and it is still practised in the modern world. This is due to Europeans' attitude of
practising prejudice or discrimination based on skin colour, with Africans being black and
American Indians being seen as separate people, and therefore Africans are often seen
through the lens of slavery. Therefore, throughout this case, the impact of indentured
servitude on the society of England in the 1600s has been highlighted as involving a number
of factors. Indentured servitude, for example, has been linked to an improved economy in
England. This is because indentured servitude allowed for foreign labour mobility, which
resulted in increased tobacco, sugar, and indigo growth. As a result, exports have increased,

with production from Virginia and Maryland, among others, going to Europe. The benefit
was then used to help England's economy, which was still in decline at the time. In today's
world, indentured servitude is expressed in society's framework, which is divided into rich
and poor, or rather upper and lower socioeconomic classes. This is an example of a power
imbalance in which the society's elites have high living standards while the poor are
classified as people from a lower socioeconomic class. Simultaneously, prejudice has
emerged in the modern period as a result of the use of American Indians and Black Africans
as indentured servants and slaves, respectively. This has resulted in a persistent population of
prejudice, with people being categorised solely on the basis of their skin colour, as well as the
society's arrangement of low-income individuals.

References
Books and Journals
Gordon-Reed, A., 2018. America's original sin: Slavery and the legacy of white
supremacy. Foreign Aff., 97, p.2.
Morretta, A., 2017. Slavery in Colonial America. Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC.
Ray, K., 2017. Constructing a Discourse of Indigenous Slavery, Freedom and Sovereignty in
Anglo-Virginia, 1600–1750. Native South, 10, pp.19-39.
Gerbner, K., 2018. Christian slavery: Conversion and race in the Protestant Atlantic world.
University of Pennsylvania Press.
Shefveland, K.M., 2019. American Slavery, American State: Rethinking Slavery and the
Creation of British North America. Reviews in American History, 47(4), pp.534-543.
Mendlesohn, F., 2017. Michael Guasco, Slaves and Englishmen: Human Bondage in the
Early Modern Atlantic World.