Though some few were here as a punishment of sorts, and a few because they had been taken up from the streets as children, most indentured servants were in the colonies through their agreed contracts, and were not looked upon as other than servants for terms of years. Some, of course, were considered as undesirables (and they were, in fact). I know of no expression outside common parlance that was adopted to reflect that a person had served his/her required term of years. If anyone knows of such, I too would like to hear of it. Generally speaking, there was no middle class, as we know it, however the artisans - those who had mastered some calling - were able to earn more than the lowest of that society, and were viewed as necessary and as being of a higher station. Ownership of land was the true measure of affluence. Quite usually, the more of it you had, the greater your status in the community, and without it, you had no power even to vote, or to influence the limited government in any way. Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: <EPERRY4616@aol.com> To: <VA-SOUTHSIDE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2001 6:46 AM If an | indentured servant was transported at the expense of another and then served | his contracted time, would he be considered manumitted?? If not, what term | would that have been? |