Indentured Servitude in Colonial Virginia: Genteel Ambitions and Harsh Realities

Abstract

In order to evaluate the status of indentured servants in colonial Virginia, the student must analyze standards of treatment of servants in the context of history. During the seventeenth century, the term "servant" was not derogatory. Today the word signifies a menial status, but then a "servant" was anyone who agreed to work under the supervision of another person for an arranged period of time. [1] A servant did not necessarily belong to a lower class. Indentured servants belonged to a wide variety of classes and had vastly differing educations and skills. The relationships between masters and servants also varied widely. [2] Colonial law protected indentured servants from abuse as well as delineated their rights to enter contracts, own property, serve in militias, and sue in court. [3] Unfortunately, competitive individualism, or self-reliance and accumulation of wealth within a market economy, were Virginia's defining characteristics and encouraged masters to exploit labor. [4] Therefore, the law did not reflect reality for most indentured servants. Court records, diaries and other sources reveal that indentured servants suffered extensive physical abuse. Some historians argue that conditions for servants in Virginia were more arduous and demeaning than in England, and that Virginia landowners treated their servants like Englishmen treated property or animals. [6] [From Chapter One]