Indentured Servants In The Late 1600s And Early 1700s

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In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the indentured servants became riskier and cost inefficient for employers. One of the biggest concern for employers of indentured servants is that at the end of the contract, the contract holders have to reimburse the indentured servants with the land. This didn’t concern the employers because most of those indentured servants died before the contract expired. However, increasing number of indentured servants who survive the contract termination has increased the cost of indentured servants. The textbook said, “As more servants survived their terms and clamored for the land they had been promised, the system of indentured servitude began to lose its attractiveness to planters” (74). These increasing cost of servants have encouraged employers to consider a different method of forced labor. …show more content…

The employers have reimbursed the indentured servants with lands that are closer to the Native Americans where it had barely any economic value. This created not only a huge unequal wealth distribution within the colony but many disgruntled independent farmers. This unequal distribution of wealth and dissatisfaction lead to a revolt by indentured servants. The textbook elaborates “These fears were grounded in growing numbers of servant runaways and small revolts in the early 1160s, one of which […] resulted in several executions and law tightening curbs on servants” (77). The revolt was the tipping point for indentured contracts; the risk is skyrocketing from runaway indentured servants and revolts. The employers had to replace undisciplined forced labor force. Eventually, Europeans return to the most primitive form of forced labor; slavery. The slaves were the most primitive but efficient method of exploiting

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