Indentured Servants

What were indentured servants?

Indentured servants were some of the earliest migrants from England to America.

When did indentured servants migrate to America?

The main period for the migration of indentured servants to America was in the 17th century.

Where did indentured servants migrate from and to?

Indentured servants migrated from England to the American colonies.

Why did people become indentured servants?

Indentured servants mainly migrated for economic reasons.

• ❖ After long periods of poor harvests, many people in England were extremely poor, and risked starvation.
• ❖ Indenture gave them the opportunity to seek a new life in the New World, where they might eventually farm their own land.
• ❖ Some of the indentured servants who migrated to America were Irish people, forced into servitude by the English in the 1650s.

What was the process for indentured servants?

There was a system behind indenture, which attracted poor migrants.

• ❖ Plantation owners paid for the servants to travel to America. Therefore, the migrants - however poor - did not have to pay out money for passage.
• ❖ Once in America, the servants were then 'bound' to the plantation owner, usually for around six years. This paid off their debt for passage.
• ❖ Once the debt was paid off, the servant was 'freed', and given a piece of land for his own use. This was the theory, at least!