Hello Scott, There is another category of "indentured servants" in addition to the ones you cite. Many people were brought to the colonies in chains. They were convicts, many of whom were exiled to Australia as well as here in North American, primarily in Georgia. Their crime might have been more than stealing a handkerchief, or even food to keep their family from starving. Generally they could work their way out of servitude but they were not allowed return to Great Britain, as one case in point. If caught back in England they would be hanged. But then in the 1700s judges in England were hanging dogs, pigs, even small children. "They Came In Chains" [I don't remember the author's name] is one book on the subject. My great grandfather, William Martin Allen, was indentured to learn the blacksmithing trade. His indenture was terminated by the Civil War but he worked as a blacksmith all his adult life. Yours truly, William Dale Allen Sr. ballensr@home.com end ----- Original Message ----- From: <Booboopies@aol.com> To: <PACHESTE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, September 01, 2000 1:16 PM Subject: [PACHESTE] Indentured Servants > Dear Scott, > > Thank you so much for explaining the difference between slavery and indentured servitude. Indentured servitude has been widely studied by a number of PhDs, with many books published on the topic containing lots and lots of tables and erudite thinking and writing. > > There were three types of indentured servitude, those who agreed to sell themselves (and/or their families) into service for a specific length of time in order to pay their passage from Europe; redemptioners who were mostly German, were purchased by the ship's master (sometimes a ship owner) to be redeemed or resold upon their arrival in the colonies either at the dock or schlepped en masse around the countryside by "soul drivers" or "soul sellers"; and apprentices (yes, folks, these, too, were indentured servants!) who were bound to a master or mistress to learn a trade. Indenture means a contract and is also used in land transactions; apprentices had to abide by the same rules and regulations as other indentured servants which is why I include them in the indentured population. > > I have encountered records where children as young as 18 months are bound out or indentured until the age of 21. Usually, these are orphans or children of parents truly too poor to care for them. In the 1740s there were gangs of men who would sweep through poor villages in Scotland and snatch up little children to sell into service in the colonies. > > Life in the 17th and 18th centuries was hard and cruel (though not as short as some like to think), so don't be shocked to hear these things. Indentured servitude was a cheap and easy way to remove oneself from far worse circumstances in Europe. From my research into runaway indentured servants, I'm convinced that many of those who sold themselves into bondage had absolutely no intention of remaining indentured for their full term which accounts for the proliferation of runaways. As soon as they set foot in America, you'd better believe some of them took to the hills as fast as they could. > > On the other hand, whole families bound themselves in an effort to stay together. If a farmer or a manufactorerr had no family of his own, this was an ideal setup. In the case of those children I mentioned earlier, some were brought up as family members, almost all of them had some form of schooling, and were taught farming, housewifery, and other occupations that would provide them with trades that would support them as adults. > > George Gesner of Ridley was younger than 14 years old when his master Col. Caleb Davis died at the early 19th century. We know this because Davis's will has a guardian appointed for the boy. George must have been highly thought of by Col. Davis because Davis bequeathed his considerable property in Phila. to George when he came of age. From servant to gentleman with the stroke of a pen. This sort of case is undoubtedly the unusual, and most indentured servants lived lives of dull drudgery until their term was up. At which time they would be given their freedom dues, clothing, farm tools, sometimes a Bible. Some bound themselves out over and over to different masters to be kept gainfully employed. Others became day laborers, shopkeepers, artisans. The opportunities for servants once their term was complete to make their way in the world were far greater here in America than in Europe where if you were poor, you generally remained poor. > > Karen Greim Mullian > booboopies@aol.com > > > In a message dated Fri, 1 Sep 2000 3:36:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Scott Anderson <phssra@physics.emory.edu> writes: > > << On Friday, September 1, 2000, REDSKI9136@aol.com wrote: > > I was interduced to a web site, in the last day or so,that > > mentions many of our Pa. residents that owned slaves. It also list many of > > their names. I have to admit that learning about this site, has really > > thrown me a bit. Many of my own family's names are listed their as > > slaveowners. I guess I have a lot to learn. I always thought that slavery > > was from the MASON-DIXON line down into the south.I knew that it extended > > into Maryland and that Delaware, seemed to stay nuetral. > > Slavery was practiced in all of the colonies, irrespective of the Mason-Dixon line. It was only outlawed in the Northern states between 1777 and 1804. This was easier for them to accomplish because slavery was not as interwined in their economies as it was in the South. > > > Though I knew of the many Indentured Slaves, I never knew our state was a > > slave owning state. > > There is a distinction between Indentured Servitude (the correct term) and Slavery. The former was generally entered into willingly through an indenture, "a contract binding one party into the service of another for a specified term". Slavery was almost always involuntary, and the slave was considered property. See, for example, <http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/7/0,5716,117527+1+109538,00.html> . > > S R C A > cott obert ranston nderson > phssra@physics.emory.edu > > > > ==== PACHESTE Mailing List ==== > Stop by our associated website for Chester County Genealogy at > http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacheste/chester.htm > > > > > >> > > > > ==== PACHESTE Mailing List ==== > Check out other counties in PA! > http://libertynet.org/~gencap/pacounties.html > > > >