Appalachian History

Very interesting. I am not sure if anyone in my family line was an indentured servant, but I do know that one of them had indentured servants. One of there descendants contacted me a few years ago. It felt very strange knowing my family had "owned" his. If I remember correctly the indenture- ship was set up because my ancestor brought him to America (paying the passage) and there are documents from the ship verifing the information.

Hi Patty, I'd be delighted to know more about the indentured servant your ancestor purchased. Can you tell me if he or she appears in my database?

Nathan

Our family had endentured servants and they are well documented I believe in the archives @ the Virginia Historical Society. I remember seeing some of them. We came in 1652 with a number of ships (were already merchants). The Page family.

It's interesting to see on the web page the statement that people "financed" their travel to the New World through indentured servitude, as we were taught in grade school. As it turns out very, very few became indentured servants through their own volition. The "convicts" were sent against their will, and many, if not most, were on trumped up charges. It was simply another form of slavery.

One good resource is "To Hell or Barbados". The truth is becoming more and more acceptable.

Good luck in your search, Nathan - many did not survive their "indenture"...

Hi Chris, here is a good table that compares the numbers of indentured servants, convicts, and slaves: http://caho-test.cc.columbia.edu/dbq/11027.html

Hi Chris --

Thank you for your comments. Here are some of my thoughts on the subject.

Yes, the Irish were treated despicably in Barbados.

Very few scholars would refer to English indentured or convict servants as 'slaves.' If you check books published by Oxford or Cambridge about the topic, you will not find many historians referring to these people in this manner. Some masters treated their servants well, others seriously abused them.

One must beware that the popular press oftens sensationalizes these stories. Brandon Books, who published To Hell or Barbados is not a publisher many historians would trust to shape their opinions about a historical subject.

While it is true that many immigrants in bondage did not survive their first few years in a strange new environment, it should be pointed out that that is also true of free passengers.

I agree that "finance" is not an appropriate term for convicts transported to the colonies (though I have come across a case where a fellow who wished to voyage to America for free told the judge he had purposefully committed a crime he knew would result in transportation); however, when you lump convicts together with indentured servants and redemptioners, under the heading "immigrant servants," finance is an appropriate term for the majority of these people, as the indentured servants and redemptioners vastly outnumbers the convicts. I'm open to a different verb, but I wouldn't want it to be appropriate for only the smallest group of the emigrants.

The attrocities many of these people suffered makes it a very interesting subject. Even more fascinating as it becomes personal to researchers who learn an ancestor came to America this way.

Nathan W. Murphy