Richard Frethorne Letter To His Parents

In my report, I will discussing one of the three letters in which an indentured servant had sent to his parents. This servant name is Richard Frethorne, a young Englishmen who had came to settled down near Virginia. Few months after he came to Jamestown in 1623, he writes this letter to his parents discussing the poor life he is living now, and comparing to life in England.. Frethorne had hope to plead with his parents to redeem his indenture, buying him out of his contract. Other than this letter, there is little historical records about his life. However, this letter provides a first-hand experience of the hardships an indentured servant has suffered in the seventeenth century.

Jamestown was first founded in 1607, when the Englishmen

had sailed along James River and stumble upon an uninhabited peninsula. Since this peninsula was located upriver, the chances of being attacked by Spanish ships was low. In addition, it was located close to many Indian villages, which could potentially be the main source of trading network. However, this peninsula was uninhabited for two reasons. First, the terrible soil covers the land, hampering agriculture. Second, the water located near the peninsula would lead to diseases. Despite these downsides, the English proceeded to build Jamestown. By late 1609, the relationship between the English and Powhatan Indians had taken a turn for the worst. Throughout the winter, the Powhatan had stopped trading with the English, cutting off the English main sources of foods, leading them to hunger. This winter was known as the “Starving Time.” Most Englishmen were afraid to head out and hunt for food due to the probability of being attacked by the Indians. As a result, they were forced to roamed the woods for nuts and berries, boiled the leather from their shoes and belts, as well as eating the corpse of their fellow settlers. Then comes 1614, introducing John Rolfe. He married Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas, in order to soothe the relationship between the English and the Indians. He then introduce tobacco, which helped turn Jamestown into a real settlement.
Tobacco has become important not only to Virginia but to other countries as well. Others have also tried to grow tobacco on their own but weren’t successful because glowing tobacco required intensive labor work. Fortunately for Virginia, the growth of tobacco has ‘inspired’ not only merchants and traders, but also settlers. Colonists came one after another in order to sign a contract called indentures, which required them to work without pay for four to seven years, in return for passage across the ocean. Virginia then created the “Headright Policy” in 1618, where any person who migrated to Virginia would receive 50 acres of land and any person who paid for their transports will receive another 50 acres of land. At first, this may seem very promising, but how many servants actually make it to the end of their contract, and who gets the 50 acres of land if no one makes it? Many traders will benefit from this policy because rather than transporting slaves, they can transports servants instead. Both of which will die from exhaustion, only differences being that servants are cheaper and their 50 acres of lands, in which their entitled to, will go through to the traders.
The year is 1623, Richard Frethorne’s letter he wrote to home, was primarily intended for his parents to be his audience.

The reader knows this because the letter opens with the statement, “Loving and kind father and mother,” and ends with, “Your loving son.” He also refers to his father in various occasion, as he writes “good father,” and “I your child,” among other references which convince the readers that Frethorne’s parents were his primarily audience. However, this always isn’t the case, as Frethorne knows that the chances of this letter reaches to them is very slim, stating “that the answer of this letter will be life or death to me.” Thus, I believe that the letter was also intended for another audience. The sentence, “I never ate anything but peas, and loblollie,” suggests that he was desperate for food and drink, and was hoping for anyone who reads this letter to send help. T also seems that Frethorne almost wanted his second audience to be the English, as he sometimes mentions England in his letter. “I am not half a quarter so strong as I was in England,” and “People cry out day and night-Oh! That they were in England without their limbs-and would not care to lose any limb to be England again.” Frethorne writes of England this way, in order to convince the people to aid him. He’s comparing how life in Jamestown is far more terrible than it is in England. Frethorne hopes to appeal to the English’s charitable nature, in hopes they will send help to

him.
Frethorne’s tone is one of humility and despair. As he was once from originally from England, he has never once imagined the lifestyle of an indentured servant. His plan was to work as an indentured servant, and sailed across the ocean. But what he didn’t imagined was how terrible the living condition is, and that he had to endure it for five to seven years in order to finally be free. Frethorne misses England, and he feels the pain of hunger as well as loneliness. This shows the reader that rights for an indentured servant was not clearly written out, and they were beaten, starved and overworked. Many servants does not even make it to the end of their contract. And even if a servant makes it through the end period of indentured service, it was not likely that they would prosper. As shown in Frethorne’s letter, even if he survives the years as a servant, what kind of life will he have afterwards. It’s mostly that he will return to back England, weakened physically and mentally. And in the end, Frethorne would not have gain anything out of it. This letter shows the reader that American was founded though laws and freedom, but through the extreme effort of those without rights.