What rights did an indentured servant have?
Indentured servants did have some rights, though, at least in theory. For example, they had access to the courts and were entitled to own land. However, masters retained their right to prohibit their servants from marrying and had the authority to sell them to another master at any time.
Did indentured servants have legal rights?
While the life of an indentured servant was harsh and restrictive, it wasn’t slavery. There were laws that protected some of their rights. With no slave laws in place, they were initially treated as indentured servants, and given the same opportunities for freedom dues as whites.
What are indentured servants not allowed to do?
Indentured servants could not marry without the permission of their master, were sometimes subject to physical punishment and did not receive legal favor from the courts. Female indentured servants in particular might be raped and/or sexually abused by their masters.
What are the rules for indentured servant servitude?
Rules for Indentured Servitude. Indentured servants typically enjoyed few personal freedoms. Also, some contracts allowed landowners to extend the work period for indentured servants accused of improper behavior, such as becoming pregnant or running away.
What happens to indentured servants when they sign a contract?
Upon signing a contract, indentured servants were displaced from family and stripped of their rights to marry without permission, vote, or work to earn money outside of their contract for the duration of its term. 8 Those forced into contracts were often subject to longer terms.
How did the masters treat their indentured servants?
Some masters considered their indentured servants as personal property and made these individuals work difficult jobs before their contracts expired. Other masters treated their slaves more humanely than their servants because slaves were regarded as a lifetime investment, whereas servants would be gone in a few years.
When did indentured servants come to the United States?
Indentured Servants In The U.S. Indentured servants first arrived in America in the decade following the settlement of Jamestown by the Virginia Company in 1607. The idea of indentured servitude was born of a need for cheap labor. The earliest settlers soon realized that they had lots of land to care for, but no one to care for it.
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