Article: Conditions in the Early
Colonies
Summary
During the 17th century, most colonial Marylanders lived in difficult conditions on small
family farms. Death rates from disease were high and heavy labor was a fact of life.
Malaria, typhoid, and dysentery weakened or killed immigrants, and pregnancy put
women's health at risk. Indeed, bouts of illness were so common following an
immigrant's arrival that the early months on American soil were known as the
"seasoning period." During the seasoning period, immigrants not only had to recover
from a long and grueling voyage, but they were exposed to diseases they had not
encountered previously, which they had to overcome if they were to survive.
Details
Life centered around the production of cash crops, such as tobacco. Tobacco created an
export economy that required land and labor.
Figure 1: Tobacco Field Worker (Source:
Historic Saint Mary's City)
17th century tobacco growers in the
Chesapeake called themselves planters,
and even the humblest of homesteads
was considered a plantation. Tobacco
was a very labor-intensive crop. Farmers
required a constant supply of young
laborers to cultivate their crops and
provide useful skills on the plantation.
Although slavery was sanctioned by law
in 1664, in early colonial times, the hard
work of tobacco planting and harvesting
was performed more by indentured
servants than enslaved Africans.
Indentured servants were mostly young
men between the ages of 15 and 25
years, who signed contracts in England
to work in the colonies without wages.
Up to 75 percent of all the individuals
who came off the transatlantic ships in
the 17th century were indentured
servants. During Jamestown's first 20
years, the majority of the women who
arrived, and they were few, were
indentured servants.
Figure 2: Contract of Indenture. For more
information about John Getchell/Gatchell,
search here by servant's first name: John;
ship: Booth; year: 1684.
Figure 3: An advertisement from the
newspaper Glasgow Courant, 4 September
1760, for indentured servants to go to
Virginia.
Once a servant arrived, a colonist would
reimburse the contracting company for
the individual's voyage expenses and
would then put the man or woman to
work without pay for four to seven years.
The servant's master provided food and
lodging, as stipulated in the indented
contract. After they had completed their
service, the servants were provided with
three barrels of corn, some tools for the
land, a new set of clothes, and 50 acres.
For many, signing on as an indentured
servant was the only way to emigrate
and improve their position in life.
Others, such as "vagrant children and
idle fellows [or criminals] . . . for
suspicion of stealing two wastcoats
[sent] to Virginia 6 May 1635," (Samuel
Ives, Bridewell Records, 1635) did not
choose for themselves life in the colony.
The life of an indentured servant was
difficult and filled with heavy physical
labor. In the Chesapeake Colonies, this
was usually field work. It has been
estimated that an indentured servant
working four acres of corn and tending
1,000 tobacco plants would bend over at
least 50,000 times during servitude.
In addition to the hard labor, indentured
servants were often subject to violence
at the hands of their masters,
occasionally even resulting in death.
Laws did exist that entitled servants to
go to court if they felt that they were
being mistreated, in the remote areas of
the Colonies these laws were seldom enforced, and prosecution of masters was
uncommon.
An example is found in Virginia County court records documenting the harsh treatment
endured by two Chesapeake servants at the hands of their masters. The servants were
reportedly abused and beaten, one to the death, at the hands of their masters. Despite
testimonies to the harsh treatment these servants suffered, no evidence has been found
of the masters receiving punishment for their actions, with many witnesses claiming the
servants deserved the brutal beatings.
Although this court case of servant abuse may not be the norm, but rather reflect an
extreme situation suffered by only a few unfortunate indentured servants, punishments
for servant "misconduct" were harsh. For example, in 1638, several lashes was the
punishment for running away. In 1639, the punishment was extended to hanging. The
law was changed again in 1641 to a punishment of death, unless the servant requested
his or her service be extended.
A high mortality rate, harsh treatment and suffering, and a low status in society, caused
multiple problems for the colonial government from this system.
As a result, the government and tobacco field owners looked to a new labor force to
exploit during the latter part of the 17th century: enslaved individuals from Africa and
the Caribbean.
Sources:
Figure 1: Historic St. Mary's City; used with permission
Figure 2: An indenture contract. For more information about John Getchell/Gatchell,
search the "Virtual Jamestown" database of indentured servants. Enter the servant's
first name: "John;" ship: "Booth"; year: 1684.
Figure 3: Read about the Glasgow indentured servant contract.
Resources:
The Lure of Sotweed: Tobacco and Maryland History,* by Dr. Henry Miller, HSMC
Director of Research
Servants and Slaves,* by Dr. Martin Sullivan, Executive Director, HSMC
* Need a PDF reader? Download here.
This page is part of the Smithsonian's The Secret in the Cellar Webcomic
, an educational
resource from the Written in Bone exhibition, February 2009 – 2014.
