Difference Between Indentured Servitude

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Indentured servitude and slavery existed in the ‘New World’ primarily for economic and population growth. In the book, Going to the Source, Slavery was defined as “hereditary” and “a lifetime status” and the slave must serve for life, however, on the other hand indentured servitude was “contractual” and “voluntary” although the servant is forced to serve for a fixed amount of years. Indentured servitude and slavery are strikingly parallel to each other from the fact that both parties participate in physically demanding labor, and endure severe punishments induced by their master and on top of that, their escape methods were similar as well, nevertheless, the contractual agreement to each party is quite different pertaining to term limit and…show more content…
Escape is the only option for slaves, but servants could wait out contracted tenure or also escape. The punishment for escaping slaves and servants if caught can be quite deadly, literally. The punishments vary from just capturing and bring back the slave or servant to the master, and the extreme is death or jailed. Indentured servants received better treatment if caught, and the reason is that most of the servants were mainly white Europeans. Slaves on the flip side were Black African Americans or Africans, and slaves were severely punished with whipping, jailed, and death. Brown and Shannon, Going to the Source, proclaims that “It was much harder for a runaway slave to pass unmolested into free society,… more severe punishment and fewer legal protections when apprehended than a white servant.”. The two parties of runways found themselves in neighboring Indian societies and distant villages far from civilized society, but some of the runaways would venture to sea ports and/or harbors up north in hope of finding jobs in workshops or on ships. It also seems that the profession also attributes to the punishment if caught. For example, Norton Minors, a caulker and ship carpenter by trade, was sold to Mr. Craddock of Nevis, but he escaped and stayed in his hometown of Newbury, and was frequently spotted but never captured.…show more content…
Indentured servitude or just servants contain mostly all white Europeans, and contained different origin of countries, including: the Dutch (Germans), Scottish, Irish and Scottish-Irish. The European citizens became an indentured servant by force or from an economic prospective. In England (Britain) if a citizen did not acquire and sustain an occupation he/she would be exported from the country to the New England Colonies as indentured servants. The other side was by economic choice and the poverty stricken citizen of said countries would sign and become an indentured servant to pay for the voyage to the ‘New World’ in hope of a better life. These servitude tenures usually lasted for around seven years, after which the occupant is released from bondage or debt and given “freedom dues” which usually consisted of a small plot of land, payment, and a gun, although slavery was much more rigorous than that of a servant. Slavery, a life sentence of work and hardship; slaves are owned for life and their future offspring as well, and were typically African

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