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Why might a person sign a contract to become an indentured servant?
The idea of indentured servitude was born of a need for cheap labor. With passage to the Colonies expensive for all but the wealthy, the Virginia Company developed the system of indentured servitude to attract workers. Indentured servants became vital to the colonial economy.
What were the incentives for indentured servants?
Upon completion of the contract, the servant would receive “freedom dues,” a pre-arranged termination bonus. This might include land, money, a gun, clothes or food. On the surface it seemed like a terrific way for the luckless English poor to make their way to prosperity in a new land.
How did indentured servitude work in colonial Virginia?
Once the agent or ships’ captain delivered the servant to a colony, such as Virginia, the indenture contract was sold to a local planter or merchant and the servant would “work-off” their debt with their new master based on the number of years agreed to in the indenture contract. Activity: Let’s Play! 1.
Why do you need indentured servitude activity materials?
The activity materials provided will allow your students to portray either an agent or potential indentured servant so they can gain a better understanding of the institution, its economic aspects, its social aspects, and how it was eventually replaced by the institution of slavery.
How did the indentured servants in Jamestown make money?
Agents and ships’ captains made money by selling indenture contracts to planters or merchants in Virginia who then became masters of their indentured servants utilizing their skills and labor for the length of the contract. For the servants it was a chance to eventually gain their freedom and maybe own land and also make money.
Why are so many working class students not getting jobs?
It is claimed that a lack of economic capital forces working class students to engage in term-time work. This means they do not have the time to participate in non-paid extra- curricular activities that would help them to improve their employability.