White Indentured slaves/Servants

[Cheeky Actress]

I am doing a bit of research regarding the white indentured servant trade during the GAoP. Though I have found information for the New England Colonies, I have not come across much information in southern colonies from 1640s until the 1740s.

1. During the time of the GAoP, how would the white indentured servant trade be handled down in the southern colonies or in the Caribbean, such as Jamaica? Would they be sold in public auction or handled in a private trade by using a middle man?

2. Knowing wool was the popular textile of the time, is there any evidence that linen was being worn more in the warmer climate, especially in the Caribbean.

Thank you.

[hurricane]

I believe white indentured slaves were traded rather than auctioned in Jamaica. They were contracted to a specific period of servitude and the contract was often sold to another person. On occasion, they were also gifted. I don't have the official documentation on that, however. Does anyone else have it at their fingertips?

-- Hurricane

[Cheeky Actress]

Thank you, Hurricane.

In looking at an will from one of my ancestor’s (John McKinny) from MA. it mentions two female indentured servants (Mary and Jane) were given to his oldest son. They were listed along with other ‘property’ of his estate.

I find the whole thing rather interesting...seeing that HIS ancestor had been indentured servant years earlier.

[Matty Bottles]

I could be mis-remembering, but doesn't Exquemeling talk about the miserable state of indentured servants in Jamaica?

[Cheeky Actress]

Bloody, do you mean Alexandre Exquemelin, the French writer?

or Are you speaking of his early life?

[Matty Bottles]

Yes. On page 64 of the Alexis Brown translation, he writes:

"The planters (of Tortuga) have few slaves; mostly they do the work themselves, along with indentured servants bound to them for three years. They trade in human beings just like the Turks, selling bondsmen among themselves as people in Europe deal horses. Some of them make it their business to go to France looking for labourers in the country towns and among the peasants. They make big promises, but when the lads get to the island they are sold and have to work like horses, harder infact than the Negroes. For the planters admit they must take greater care of a Negro slave than a white bondsman, because the Negro is in their service for life, while the white man is theirs only for a period."

[Matty Bottles]

Continued:

"They treat their bond-servant as cruelly as the hunters do, showing them no pity at all. Whether sick or well, they must all work the same in the heat of the sun, which is sometimes intolerable. The backs of those wretched lads are often full of scabs of sunburnt sores, like horses chafed by heavy loads.

"The bondsmen are subject to certain sickness, brought about by the change of air and bad food. The become sleepy, dropsical and short of breath. This illness is known as mal d'estomac, and it is caused by the bad diet and melancholy induced by the harsh treatment they suffer. Many of the youths have been lured away from good homes by these traders in living souls, and when they encounter such wretchedness they promptly fall ill of the endemic disease. Nevertheless, they are neither spared nor assisted. On the countrary, they are forced to work with blows, often until they drop down dead. Then the planters complain, 'The rascal would rather die than work.' I have seen such cases, to my great sorrow. I will give a few examples."

He then goes on for another two pages, including a description of the english practice of extending the contract by sale.

[Fox]

George Alsop writing of Maryland servants in 1666 talks of indentured servants moving from master to master by simple agreement and describes as a "damnable untruth" the notion that servants were "sold in an open market for slaves".

[Cheeky Actress]

Thank you Foxe for directing me to George Alsop's, “They Live Well in the Time of their Service”. Sounds like very interesting reading. I'll have to see if my local library has a copy.

[Cheeky Actress]

Here’s a new wrinkle in the white indentured servant realm.

What if they were considered a prisoner of war? I am sure during the time of the English Civil War (such as survivors of the Battle of Marston Moor or Worcester for example) that there were many prisoners that ended up here in the colonies as indentured servants. How would they have been conducted into the trade?

[Silkie McDonough]

They became PIRATES!

sorry ...couldn't resist.

I'll let the people who actually know answer.

[Cheeky Actress]

Why thank you Silkie~! I should have known this all along. Damn, why didn't I think of that first!

[hurricane]

The quality of life of indentured servants in Jamaica depended largely on their owner. Many of the landowners treated their indentured servants fairly well, at least for the times. Of course, the cruelties of the few outweigh the goodness of many, hence history's recording of them. Just like today, you had good bosses and bad bosses.

-- Hurricane

[Capt. Sterling]

Ballagh, James Curtis. White Servitude in the Colony of Virginia: A Study of the System of Indentured Labor in the American Colonies. Baltimore, Md.: John Hopkins Press, 1895.

Emmer, P.C. Editor. (1986). "Colonialism and migration: an overview", in Colonialism and Migration; Indentured Labor Before and After Slavery. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

Smith, Abbot Emerson. Colonists in Bondage: White Servitude and Convict Labor in America, 1607- 1776. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1965.

Van Der Zee, John. Bound Over: Indentured Servitude and American Conscience. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985.

First Person Account

1. Lauson, John. (1969). "The felon's account of his transportation at Virginia in America. In [1st Edition] reprinted and edited J. Stevens Cox from an original copy. St Peter Port, Toucan Press.

2. Medearis, Angela Shelf. Dancing With The Indians. New York, Holiday House. (Account of a slave's escape and adoption into an Indian tribe)

3. Raskin, Joseph. (1978). Tales of Indentured Servants. New York, Lothrop, Lee and Shepard. (8 accounts told from historical sources of indentured servants in colonial America)

Unfortunately UVA's online listings of Runaways in the Gazette is no longer online but I can take a run over there for you and see what they have on campus... after I spend a day in town, as the Charlottesville HS has a rather large listing of indentureds that came over to Virginia, what they brought with them and how they got here... supposedly...

As to selling them in the colony of Virginia from master to master seems to be rather common, especially when masters weren't pleased. And they teach here, that in order to obtain their passages over, they either auctioned their services off to the masters OR the ship's captains who in turn, would then sell their contracts once they landed in Virginia to the folks looking for servants. The question being, what exactly do they mean by the term auctioned their services?

Also you may wish to check out Daniel Defoe, as his niece was an indentured servant in the colonies who ended up marrying her owner's son.

Most of the accounts I have started reading claim that, at least down in Virginia, even the female "Masters" could be down right nasty, servants could bring suites against their masters in court for mistreatment and that if the indentured didn't have a proper agreement on paper, they could be in big trouble once they arrived, as the master's word usually outweighed the servant's....

[Cheeky Actress]

In Abbot E. Smith's book, "Colonists in Bondage: White Servitude and Convict Labor in America, 1607-1776" Colonist in Bondage is an objective treatment of the immigrant bond servant.

It deals with the voluntary servant, the convict, the political prisoner, and the redemptioner. It reveals how servants were recruited, how they were transported, and what awaited them in the New World.

The author is thoroughly familiar with the British background of the majority of the immigrants, but pays less attention to the background of those from the Continent. He includes as full a treatment of transportation to the West Indies as to the mainland colonies. Because of the breadth of his work, no one region receives particular attention, but there is some valuable information on Pennsylvania. Philadelphia was a center of the trade, but, except for a number of Irish felons, few convicts came to Pennsylvania.

On the other hand, as is well known, many redemptioners found their way to Philadelphia, even though a head tax was levied on Germans and Irish in 1729-30, in an apparent attempt to curtail their immigration.

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

According to what we studied last semester in my history class, the majority of bonds were drawn up before leaving England. There were many types of arrangements, and in most cases tradesmen bartered for passage on the ships, and were able to then purchase their way out of servitude quickly through plying thier own crafts and skills aside from thier servitude. The non-skilled bonded were another matter altogether. The debtor prisoners were only able to sign on as little more than slaves. There were auctions in America where these unfortunate souls were sold and traded just as the slaves were. Usually they were the property of the ships Captains, or an Investor in the trade. The only real difference between the slaves and the indentured was that the whites could evetually hope to gain thier freedom if they survived the terms of service, usually from three to seven years. I will dig out my books, I did keep them for reference.

Bo

[Capt. Sterling]

The Market Evaluation of Criminality: Evidence from the Auction of British Convict Labor in America, 1767-1775

Farley Grubb

The American Economic Review, Vol. 91, No. 1 (Mar., 2001), pp. 295-304

The article begins with dealings in 1718... just found it, will let you know...

AND BO,

The non-skilled bonded were another matter altogether. The debtor prisoners were only able to sign on as little more than slaves. There were auctions in America where these unfortunate souls were sold and traded just as the slaves were. Usually they were the property of the ships Captains, or an Investor in the trade. The only real difference between the slaves and the indentured was that the whites could evetually hope to gain thier freedom if they survived the terms of service, usually from three to seven years. I will dig out my books, I did keep them for reference.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, let me know what books, articles, etc. A bottle of rum will be in the post if you send me a snail mail address!

Sterling

[Capt. Sterling]

Bo,

Go over anything in class to support this statement?

Women and children made the journey as well, some voluntarily with high hopes for America, while others were “lagged” or kidnapped off the streets.

[Capt. Sterling]

Oh and Cheeky regarding the linen question, you may wish to try this link..Probate Inventories from Williamsburg starting in 1700

[Cheeky Actress]

Hurricane, Captain Sterling - from what I've been finding out - you are correct about the livelihood of the indentured servants – some had it good; others not so good.

Upon further inspection, I found a document by Economists David Galenson, who discover that the historic basis for indenture grew out of English agricultural servitude and began because of labor shortages in England and in the colonies, (Hmmm…you think that perhaps the Plague may have had something to do with this?)

It developed at a time when England had a great number of people being displaced from farming. This led to an early growth of the indentured labor system.

Capt. Bo - any additional information would be helpful!

[Cheeky Actress]

The Market Evaluation of Criminality: Evidence from the Auction of British Convict Labor in America, 1767-1775

Farley Grubb

The American Economic Review, Vol. 91, No. 1 (Mar., 2001), pp. 295-304

The article begins with dealings in 1718... just found it, will let you know...

Yup, Grubb and Galenson, both! Thanks for the help, Captain!

[Capt. Sterling]

So when we go to Williamsburg for Halloween, can we ... um just dress up and go to the library??

[Cheeky Actress]

Oh and Cheeky regarding the linen question, you may wish to try this link..Probate Inventories from Williamsburg starting in 1700

Thank you kindly, Captain for the link. I will make good use of it...

Still mulling over my anscestors' articles. God bless my Father and my Uncle Ted for being a bit persnickerty with details! More to follow.

Dress up to go to the Library ? Perhaps if it's the University...they usually have 'something' going on for Halloween there.

[Capt. Sterling]

Dress up to go to the Library   ?  Perhaps if it's the University...they usually have 'something' going on for Halloween there.

This is Virginia, Lill... it will make Newport look better than Salem...now back to the rest of the thread

[Capt. Bo of the WTF co.]

Give me the weekend as I have already packed my textbooks in storage. I addition, I will consult with my instuctors for additional source material. I am very slow to get things out. Life in the boondocks/college and stuff.

Patience please...

Bo