Trends
The features of indentured servitude in Pennsylvania, like other colonies, underwent a series of transformations. For example, indentured servitude initially possessed a patriarchal character. Under the "head right" system, prospective proprietors could receive for each "head" (servant/laborer) they brought over, with being given to the servant once his/her indenture had expired. Most of the indentured servants that migrated to Pennsylvania at this time had some form of acquaintanceship with their masters. In turn, many of the contracts established between the masters and servants were oral and based upon certain "customs" of the home country. In addition, "immigrants in bondage" were "criminals" in England. This could mean a great many things. Many were non-conformists, had problems with the church, or had committed an offense as small as stealing a loaf of bread. Yet, as time progressed the system became more "systematized," acquiring certain standardized procedures and regulations. The transition to written contracts reflected this development. In addition, such factors as poverty, dislocation, personal ambition, or criminal activity "produced" enough indentured servants to support a well-functioning market structure. Indeed, the institution of indentured servitude assumed the characteristics of a "modern labor market." During the early period, much of the work undertaken by indentured servants related to agriculture and "taming" the wilderness (e.g. clearing forests). As industry developed, however, the demand for skilled labor increased; while agriculture still demanded indentured servants, the emergence of different industries required a diverse workforce. Free labor at this stage proved scarce and highly expensive, thus compelling colonists to seek an alternative via servants (and slaves). Moreover, the origins and "types" of servants changed over time. Whereas indentured servants in late-17th and early-18th centuries migrated predominantly from England, Scotland, and Wales (Great Britain after 1707 Acts of Union), a majority of those in the mid-to-late 18th century consisted of Irish and German/ Palatinate immigrants. With this "transition" in the national compositions of indentured servants came a shift in the particular "form" of the institution. In the 1720s the "redemptionist system" began to replace the older structure, a subject to be discussed below. This type of indentured servitude provided the greatest source of labor by the end of the 18th century. The collapse of indentured servitude has been a subject of debate. A categorization of this debate could roughly divide the positions into "demand" and "supply." Those on the former, such as Sharon Salinger and Cheesman Herrick, have argued that the system collapsed as a result of a growing free labor supply in Pennsylvania: employers found free labor less expensive and more flexible than indentured servitude. Thus, the demand of employers essentially determined the rise and fall of the system. Scholars arguing on the "supply" side have maintained that the ability of migrants to finance their passage to the "new world" ultimately undermined the system. David Galenson, for example, said the fact "that the great nineteenth-centuryTypes of Indentured Servitude
Indentured servitude can be described as an arrangement in which one party agrees to serve another for a certain number of years in exchange for an initial payment or monetary outlay. In colonial and early-republican Pennsylvania, statutes governing the institution established both protections for and restrictions upon indentured servants. While masters could not wield unlimited authority over their servants, the latter was nevertheless subject to various constraints upon their freedom. In fact, indentured servants essentially bore the status of property. However, while these details help in generally understanding indentured servitude, the various forms of the system need to be mentioned as well.Indentured Servants
While the category of indentured servant can apply to all the variations of the institution, scholars have also attached a more precise meaning to the term. Depending on the context, the "indentured servant" usually refers to servant-migrants whose contracts were arranged before the voyage to the colonies. The term may also describe colonial residents who indentured themselves or their relations. Of course, features of this type overlap with aspects of others. With regard to the "migrant variety," persons inConvicts, Vagabonds, Rogues, and the Undesirables
Those of the "criminal" or "meaner" sort comprised another form of indentured servitude. For these individuals, indentured servitude provided a "conditional" alternative to judicially prescribed punishments. By serving a certain number of years under indenture, such persons would legally absolve themselves of their crimes. However, if these servants reneged on their contracts and returned to the home country, they would be subject to the penalty of death. "According to common law and the Habeas Corpus Act," as Abbot Smith noted, "it was illegal to inflict a penalty of exile or transportation. But it was not illegal to pardon a felon upon the condition that he transports himself out of the country, and the term of his exile might thus be fixed as the authorities desired." By the 18th century two major practices were employed to facilitate this conditional transportation, "the pleading of the clergy and the granting of royal pardons." As the system developed, the royal pardon came to entail justices or a mayor/recorder submitting a list of "worthy" individuals to the secretary of state; if the list was approved, the king/court and the secretary would sign the document, thus granting the pardon. Those receiving such a pardon would "plead" in an open court and wait to be shipped to the colonies. Many would be shipped to the middle colonies, usually ending up at ports in Philadelphia or the Chesapeake Bay where they found their temporary new home on farms, English Estates, or in quarries. Depending on their violation their sentence could last 5 or 7 years, sometime less if they had a valuable trade such as a blacksmith. The actual process of transporting convicts to the colonies fell into the hands of private merchants, though these individuals had to follow certain regulations. Merchants made their profits by selling the convicts as indentured servants. Seven years became the standard length of service for such contracts. Some merchants received additional payments from theRedemptioner System
Emerging in the 18th century, the redemptionist system allowed indebted migrants to avoid indenture by repaying the costs of their passage within a certain period of time after arrival in the colony. However, if the migrant proved unable to reimburse the merchant for the passage, the former was sold as an indentured servant for the specified amount of the voyage. This form of indentured servitude had a particularly prominent role in the Pennsylvania market; Philadelphia became a chief port in which redemptioner servants were procured by buyers from across and outside of the colony/state. During the early stages of the system, redemptioners had the liberty to leave the ships and seek out relations who would repay their debts. However, such an arrangement proved problematic, as some redemptioners did not return. A merchant could take legal action, but this course of action could consume much time and did not always bring the defected redemptioner to "justice." As Grubb noted, "They he merchantseventually solved the problem by keeping redemptioners on board until payment was rendered and by requiring payment within 10 to 14 days of arrival." While the period of repayment was later extended to 30 days, this policy increased the likelihood of the redemptioner being indentured, since such constraints inhibit his/her ability to make contact with relations. Whereas servants indentured in Britain had a fixed contract length before their sale in the colonies/states, an indentured redemptioner would negotiate the terms of the contract with the buyers. Gottlieb Mittelberger, a German migrant who travelled with redemptioners on a ship to Philadelphia, has provided a description of this process, : ey he redemptionersnegotiate with them he buyersas to the length of the period for which they will go into service in order to pay off their passage, the whole amount of which they generally still owe. When an agreement has been reached, adult persons by written contract bind themselves to serve for three, four, five, or six years, according to their health and age. The very young, between the ages of ten and fifteen, have to serve until they are twenty-one, however. Thus, unlike the above forms of indentured servitude, the terms of sale for redemptioner servitude had a "fixed" price but a "variable" length of service. Other aspects distinguished redemptioner system from its indentured counterparts as well. Among these points of contrast, the "most remarkable difference between the two," as Abbot Smith noted, "was…that the redemptionist system applied generally to people who emigrated in whole families, bringing their goods and chattels with them and seeking a new home." Certain merchants preferred this arrangement because it diffused the risks and losses stemming from mortality rates during the passage. If a migrant were to die after the "halfway" point of the voyage, the other members of a family would assume the expenses of that person's passage. The Pennsylvania Assembly eventually passed a law in 1765 that forbade this practice, though masters of ships attempted to circumvent its restrictions. German migrants accounted for a majority of redemptioners, with those from the Palatinate being the most numerous within this group. Palatinate redemptioners would descend the Rhine, crossing several principalities, until they reached the port ofRunaway servants
Heavner has noted that laws "dealing with shirking ndrunning away were in essence laws against ‘stealthe’ or theft of the master's property—his right to the servant's labor services." The formation and elaboration of such laws, in other words, reflects the emergence of a commodities market system. Thus, fugitive servant advertisements would appear alongside runaway slave notices, as both represented (in different ways) a denial of the owner's rights to property. Advertisements for runaway servants generally contained a description of the individual and the monetary reward/compensation involved in his/her apprehension. As an illustration, a notice in the ''American Weekly Mercury'' read in part: :Run away from ''Joseph Townshend'' and ''Thomas Hayward'' of Chester Pennsylvania, the 13th of this Instant May. Two Servant Men, the one named ''Edmund Jones'', a Shropshire Man, aged 26 Years, a Tall slender Man, long Vissage, brown hair, having on a felt Hat…a blew Jacket and Leather Breeches…The other named ''Thomas Coombes''…aged about 22 Years…round Vissage, and a flat Nose, a Scare on his right Cheek occasioned by falling into the Fire…Whoever shall take up and secure the said Servants so that their said Master may have them again shall have 5 Pounds Reward for each of them and Reasonable Charges paid by us. The advertisement might make an additional comment at the end of the description to better facilitate the capture of the servant. As means of regulating the movement of servants, Pennsylvania law stipulated that such persons must travel with a pass or their indenture. "Unknown" or suspicious individuals that could not furnish such a document were subject to confinement in a workhouse. The sheriff's office would then "advertise" the apprehended person in an attempt to inform the master (if there was a master) of his/her whereabouts. If a master did reclaim the servant, the former would assume all charges involved in the latter's capture and captivity. Servants attempted to avoid apprehension by creating or procuring forged passes. Advertisements for runaways sometimes mentioned that the servants could be carrying these false "freedom pass." A notice in the ''Pennsylvania Gazette'', for example, stated that a Robert Beverlin "has a counterfeit pass with him, signed with the name Veazey, done by a schoolmaster, in New Castle prison." Another strategy involved altering passes issued by masters, usually changing the stipulated "time of return.". One runaway advertisement even warned that the servant, Thomas Mason, had "his old indentures with him, with which ’tis supposed he will endeavour to pass." The penalty for runaways entailed the lengthening of the time served. By the 18th century, Pennsylvania law stipulated "five days for every days absence, after the expiration of…Servitude," with the additional provision that the captured runaway make "Satisfaction for the Damages, costs, and charges." After securing the runaway servant, the master would submit to the courts a claim enumerating the days of the servant's absence and the expenditures involved in his/her capture. The courts, in turn, would determine the extra time or "money charge" required in order to compensate the master, though a money payment was unlikely. It was, however, likely that the servant would be punished for their absence by means of whipping.Voyage and Arrival
The voyage of servants to the colonies/states was quite onerous and hazardous. For German redemptioners, the journey proved especially long and arduous, as they had to traverse down the Rhine to Rotterdam, paying tolls at thirty-six custom houses along the way. Once in Holland, they faced a seven- to twelve-week voyage to the colonies/states. Nevertheless, servants of various types faced (in different ways) many hardships in their trip across the Atlantic. Insufficient food provisions and the spread of disease represented two of the most serious (and common) afflictions involved in the passage. With regard to the former, unscrupulous merchants seeking to increase their profit even further might have supplied their ships with meager provisions. Such practices appeared most commonly among transporters of redemptioners, though similar depredations can be found on the ships of other servants. As Sharon Salinger observed, "Many masters arrying redemptionerswere notorious for providing inadequate provisions for only the first half of the trip and then virtually starving their captives to the journey's end." Since transportation rules (prior to 1765 for ships landing in Pennsylvania) specified that families assumed responsibility for the cost of a deceased member only if that member died after the halfway point, providing adequate provisions for the first half of the journey helped the merchant ensure a "return" on the "investment." An inadequate supply of food could have resulted from less sinister causes as well. Masters of ships occasionally misjudged the necessary supply. Shortfalls in provisions might have also been due to the poor quality of the food, as opposed to a failure to adequately supply the ship. After a number of weeks the food spoiled to point of being inedible, thus accounting for reductions in the distributed rations. Aside from the specific reason of insufficient provisions, the issue remained an unpleasant "theme" in the passage to the colonies/states. The spread of diseases among the passengers represented another "misery" of the journey. Mittelberger provided a description of the situation: :On one of these voyages a father often becomes infected by his wife and children, or a mother by her small children, or even both parents by their children, or sometimes whole families one by the other, so that many times numerous corpses lie on the cots next to those who are still alive, especially when contagious diseases rage on board. Sickly migrants and servants became an issue of concern for the colonies receiving them, with the specter of contagious diseases demanding a course of action. In the face of this alarming situation, Pennsylvania officials began to debate the idea of quarantining those diseased passengers for the period of their recovery. In 1741, Governor George Thomas petitioned the Assembly to create a pesthouse for the ill as an alternative to keeping them on board the ship. After the Pennsylvania legislature approved the idea, funds were appropriated to purchase Province Island, at the mouth of the Schuylkill River, as the location for the pesthouse and hospital. While such an initiative contributed to preventing the spread of diseases from afflicted migrants, the conditions on the island, according to one account, created the image of "a land of the living dead, a vault full of living corpses." Pennsylvania officials made further efforts to reduce the rate of disease among passengers by addressing the conditions on board the ship. The Assembly argued that a quarantine merely served as an immediate response to a contagious cargo; the central cause of the problem involved the crowded quarters of ships, especially those carrying the Irish and Germans. Consequently, the legislature passed a law in 1750 to limit the number of passengers per ship. According to the statutes of the act, six feet of "Bed Place" was required for every four "whole freights," with a passenger above fourteen years of age constituting a "whole freight." In 1765 the legislature passed a supplemental law that added a "vertical" standard to "horizontal" space specified in the previous act, stipulating three feet nine inches of "Bed Place" at the forepart of the ship and two feet nine inches in the cabin and steerage. Moreover, vessels that carried emigrants were to be fumigated and washed with vinegar twice per week; ships transporting Germans were to have a surgeon on board to care for the ill. However, the actual implementation of these laws proved difficult, and the results of such legislation were limited. Lacking the means of enforcement, as well as support from the home government, many of the baneful practices involved in the trade continued. As Salinger observed, "Without the interference of colonial officials, merchants’ behavior went unchecked and the route to the promised land was lined with the horrors of disease and death." Upon arrival in Pennsylvania, merchants or captains of the ships transporting the human cargo were required to register a list of passengers with the mayor's office, a magistrate or recorder. By 1717, masters of ships carrying German and other non-British redemptioners had the additional obligation of furnishing an "account" of the "character" of the individuals on board; furthermore, the emigrants had to "proclaim" before a magistrate or recorder their allegiance to "his Majesty and his Government." Those transporting convicts, as noted, were required to provide one or more justices of the peace with a list enumerating the passengers and their respective transgressions. After these procedures, the master of a ship could begin to sell the servants. " e captains or merchants," as Herrick described, "usually inserted in the newspapers advertisements which gave descriptions of the passengers for sale, their nationality, age, sex, and the service for which they were said to be fitted." As an illustration, one such advertisement in the ''Pennsylvania Gazette'' read: :''SERVANTS'', Just imported in the ''Ship'' Hugh and James, Captain McCarthy, from Ireland, and to be ''sold'' by CONYNGHAM and NESBITT, A PARCEL of likely young Men, Women, and Boys, among which are, Shoemakers, Taylors, Linen, Worsted and Stockings Weavers, Blacksmiths, Nailors, Carpenters, Joyners, Butchers, Gardiners, Distillers, Millers, a Mill wright, Soap boiler, Sugar boiler, Sadler, Brazier, Upholsterer, Tobacco Spinner, Snuff maker, Currier, Barber, Cooper, Bricklayer, Breeches maker, and a Printer. In some cases the terms of indenture were mentioned in the advertisement as well. The sale of indentured servants usually occurred on the ship, with the servants being "displayed" to the prospective buyers. The latter would evaluate the physical characteristics of the servants as well as inquire about their respective skills. When buyers found a particular servant fitting for their purposes, they would pay the merchant or captain the cost of the voyage and take possession of the indenture. The new master was then obligated to register the servant with the mayor's office, a magistrate or recorder. Servants not sold by the intended departure date would be housed in the merchant's buildings, where they would wait until their indentures were purchased.Salinger,''"To serve well and faithfully"'', 97.See also
* Gottlieb Mittelberger * Sally Brant *Endnotes
Bibliography
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