Obligated Serfdom Essay

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Obligated Serfdom Before African slavery existed in the New World, Englishman enslaved their own people to complete the work needed on its farms. Early wealth in the American colonies was due almost entirely to its crops, so it needed cheap labor to maximize profits for its landholders. Native Americans weren’t a great option for labor because they were very resilient to diseases and were more difficult to enslave due to their tribal security. Africans weren’t used from the start because they were considered too expensive considering the short lifespan of those who came over to the New World in the early 17th century. The only people that left were the poor English who could be persuaded into leaving their homeland because they had little to gain in staying in England. These poor people who couldn’t pay for passage to America on their own were forced into working for a set number of years to pay off the cost of their transportation. This servitude proved very costly for these English men and women. Indentured servitude in the New World was difficult due to unfair treatment, lack of voting rights, and poor land conditions for those who finished out their obligations. Treatment of indentured servants was so poor in this time period that historians always compare their handling with that of African slaves. To start, their boat ride to America killed around 10-20 percent of the servants who attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean. German immigrant Gottlieb Mittelberger describes his passage to America as “terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, [etc.]” (Voices of Freedom 54). He goes on to describe horrific instances: parents having to throw their dead children over the boat, children arriving after both parents have died, and people dying in the boat even after arriving because they weren’t chosen for servitude. These poor conditions continued after the voyage once they were assigned to their respective masters. Elisabeth Sprigs wrote a letter to …show more content…
Even though the servants were technically freemen, they didn’t own land, so therefore didn’t get the chance to vote. When servants would challenge their masters in courts of law, judges often sided with their fellow landowners, so little was done because they couldn’t vote. This becomes a greater issue in 1670 when freed servants lost their right to vote after Virginia tightened its restrictions on voter regulations. These restrictions were then compounded further when they received the brunt of taxation in the late 1600s. Many of these servants also unfairly had additional years tacked onto their commitments due allegations placed on them by their masters and their lack of defense in trials due to there perceived lower status in the New …show more content…
Rebellions started popping up all over America in order to pressure England into transporting African Slaves to the New World instead of indentured servants. The switch to African slaves allowed masters to enslave people longer while never having to commit to giving land after a set period of time. This swap of workforce greatly changed the American landscape and later leads the United States into war. It would take an additional 100 years to abolish slavery all together and leave America scarred from racist repercussions every since. Indentured servitude leads to the even bigger problem of slavery, which is the greatest reason why serfdom is considered a black eye in American

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