The terms of indentured servants were determined by bargaining dictated by the value or those people to the prospective colonial buyers. Bargains were made by the servants-to-be either with the ships' owners or whoever else was the procurer in the Old Country, and upon arrival here those people were sold - hopefully at a profit - by those who had procured them in Britain (or wherever). Kids usually were servants to age 25 and ordinary untrained men and women often for 7 years, but for as little as two years if they possessed knowledge of a trade or calling that was needed by their purchasers in the colonies. Such servants, if not pre-arranged for a planter here, often were sold at the wharves to planters who needed such folks/laborers. It has been estimated (by Bruce) that the price to a ships' master or other procurer in Britain was about L7 for the passage and an additional L3 for the meager housing and food for those people who waited near the ships till that ship had a full load to carry across the ocean. If that ships' master or British entrepreneur could sell the person and term of service for a higher price here, he made a profit (and they quite usually did). It was a simple matter of a person bring willing to give over a number of years of labor as a servant in order to gain passage, and then that procurer finding a willing buyer at a price higher than he had to pay for that term. A brisk and no-nonsense business, and the bargaining was quite similar to the economics by which Slaves were gained by those who needed that labor force. ----- Original Message ----- .... Please forgive my ignorance when I ask this and keep in mind that I know squat about VA's history . How long does one become a indentured servant for?Is there a set time or what ?What happens after one is no longer a indentured servant ?If he wasn't a I servant what other possibilities are there for him coming to VA? Linda Rogers