Indentured Servants In The 17th Century

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In the seventeenth century many of the men and women who came to America as indentured servant had done so under duress. Many were exiled by the English government, some by kidnapping, lies, many were lured into what they felt would be a better life because they were desperate to escape the one they were in. Upon signing the agreement to be an indentured servant, which would have stated that the person agreed to work for the master for 5-7 years in exchange for the master paying their fare to the United States. In many cases there were then imprisoned in the ship in order to guarantee that they would not run away. Whatever the reason for the people becoming indentured servants, they became a great source of profit for “the merchants, traders,

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