The Labor System That Existed in Virginia Until the 1670s

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Characteristics of Indentured Servitude: Indentured servants-poor English people who contracted to provide four to seven years of their labor in exchange for passage to Virginia-formed the bulk of the labor force in Virginia until the 1670s.To obtain a servant's labor,a planter paid transportation costs and agreed to provide the servant with food and shelter during the term of indenture.When the indenture expired,the planter then owed the former servant freedom dues,which generally consisted of a few barrels of corn and a suit of clothes.Planters expected servants to grow enough tobacco in one year to cover his costs,so that the remaining years of the servant's labor would be pure profit.Planters also received 50 acres of land from the colonial government for every new servant they purchased.
Conditions Underlying Indentured Servitude: The system of indentured servant labor flourished because tobacco crops required a great deal of labor but brought a high income;there was an abundance of poor Englishmen who wanted to come to Virginia for new opportunities and therefore no shortage of labor;conditions in Virginia were so poor that many servants did not survive their period of indenture,thus allowing for a constant flow of new labor without overpopulation;and there was a great deal of cheap land available for the few newly freed servants who did survive their indenture and wanted to break out on their own.
Effects of Indentured Servitude on the Chesapeake: Indentured servitude had a strong impact on the makeup of Chesapeake society.Most of the people contracting as indentured servants were young men,which created large age and gender imbalances in the region.Planters' hunger for labor caused them to demand as much work as they could get from their servants.They put strict laws in place to keep them from running away and devised legal ways to extend their periods of servitude.Planters also put special restrictions on female servants,prohibiting them from marrying and punishing them for giving birth to children while they were servants,which perpetuated the gender imbalance.

The Labor System That Existed in Virginia Until the 1670s

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