Indentured Servants

Indentured Servants

During the 1600's in England, people were barely making enough to live.  Farmers or regular people would be making only about 50 shillings a year ($5)

​People wanted to escape England and come to the colonies where there was a chance at a better life.

In order to pay a ship captain to take you across the Atlantic, it cost about 6 – 10 pounds (120-200 shillings or $10-$20).  This is the same as 2-3 years worth of work for the regular English worker. The trip was not easy or safe.

A cheaper way to get here was to become an indentured servant.  What this meant was that your father would legally turn you over to a ship captain before you were 21 years old.  The ship captain would transport you for free to America.  When you arrived, the ship captain would sell you to somebody so that  you could work for them.

Poll

Imagine:

- it's 1673

-you're 8

-your family is poor

-there is not enough food on the table

-your mom and dad tell you that the family will not survive the way things are now.

What would you do?

• Ask to be sent to a new world with a new family

• Stay and try and make it work

• run away

When you began your job in the colonies, you would not be paid anything.  The only thing you would get is a bed, a room to sleep in, food, clothing, and training.  You would work for your owner for about 7 years.  After those 7 years you would be given a suit and sent on your way.  Many times the indentured servants would start up their own farm, while others would go out and learn a new skill or trade so that they could become a businessman/woman.

​People came from all over to work as an indentured servant.  They came from Scotland, Germany, England, and Ireland.  Throughout the 1600’s (17th century), nearly 66% of the people who came to the colonies came as indentured servants.

​

In 1948 the US declared servitude, or this type of work, as illegal .

Multiple Choice

How much did the average farmer make a year in England?

• 50 shillings

  $5 (now)

• 5 shillings

  $50 (now)

• 10 shillings

  $5 (now)

• 1,000 shillings

  $1,000 (now)

Multiple Choice

When buying a boat ticket, it was the same as how many years of work?

• 2 or 3

• 5 or 6

• 1 or 2

• 7 or 8

Multiple Choice

What was it called when you paid off your boat ticket by working for another family?

• slacve

• indentured servant

• apprentice

• good deal

Multiple Choice

How long would you work for your owner?

• 1 year

• 5 years

• 7 years

• forever

Multiple Choice

When you were done with your servitude, what would you be given?

• suit or clothes

• money

• land

• a high five

Multiple Choice

When did it become illegal to use indentured servants?

• 2021

• 1982

• 1650

• 1948