Indentured Servants

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Indentured Servants and slaves both worked hard labor for others, but their prospects were very different. The biggest similarity between indentured servants and slaves is that they worked for others without receiving any pay. Through changes in the European economy and culture as well as the implementation of new laws in America, indentured servitude reduced over time while slavery increased.

Indentured servants were people who worked for others without pay in order to travel to the American colonies. They saw indentured servitude as an opportunity for a better life and hoped that they could own their own farm after working for approximately five years. They did this because, unlike slaves, after they had worked for a set amount of time, …show more content…
In the history of the United States, the term most often describes the forced labor of African Americans. Many slaves started out as indentured servants, with hope for freedom in their future. But as time went on people looked down on them because of their color and forced them into slavery. Having a slave status meant no hope for future freedom with their master working them until death. Slaves were valued as much as animals and considered property that could be bought and sold. Slaves were mostly African American as well as some Native Americans. Slavery spanned all ages and included men, women and children. Before slaves were captured they were part of tribes in Africa. The slave traders would steal the villagers at night, then in the morning the rest of the villagers would try to find the stolen people and that is when they would capture them all. Then once they were captured, they worked very hard labor in America. Slaves worked mostly on big plantations in the southern colonies where they grew cash crops. More and more colonies legalized slavery as time went on in colonial America. Slave codes were passed that sought to control slaves through strict rules and regulations. The transatlantic trade of African slaves started with the idea that it was okay to enslave Africans because they were not Christians. But over time, religious status did not impact the status of slaves. For example, Virginia passed a law in 1667 that if you were baptized that it would not change your personal
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