Most indentured servants worked as farm laborers or domestic servants, although some were apprenticed to craftsmen. The terms of an indenture were not always enforced by American …

While slaves existed in the English colonies throughout the 1600s, indentured servitude was the method of choice employed by many planters before the 1680s. This system provided …

Oct 28, 2025 · Indentured servitude was a historical labor system in which individuals worked for a set period to repay a debt or loan, often the cost of passage to America. It peaked in the …

Jul 7, 2025 · One third to half of the European population in Colonial Era America came in as indentured servants, apprentices, or convicts. Those searching for family history stories can …

Perhaps as many as half of all the white settlers in North America were indentured servants, who agreed to work for someone (the purchaser of the indenture) upon arrival to pay for their …

Servants typically worked four to seven years in exchange for passage, room, board, lodging and freedom dues. While the life of an indentured servant was harsh and restrictive, it wasn't...

Jun 30, 2025 · In the colonial period, Annapolis and Baltimore were major ports of entry for laborers called indentured servants from Europe. The Ridgelys purchased indentured …

Indentured servants could not marry, and they were subject to the will of the tobacco planters who bought their labor contracts. If they committed a crime or disobeyed their masters, they found …

Indentured servants were a crucial means of building and sustaining colonial populations in English plantation societies that, owing to high mortality rates, would otherwise have collapsed.

Explore the lives of indentured servants in the colonies, their experiences, contributions, and lasting impact on society and culture.