Planters viewed indentured servants as people with no friends and should get a life.
Chat with our AI personalities
Some planters viewed indentured servants as a source of cheap labor to help grow crops and increase profits. They preferred indentured servants over slaves as they were a more temporary and less expensive labor force.
Some synonyms for indentured servants include apprentices, bondmen, and bonded laborers.
People may become indentured servants due to financial hardship, lack of opportunities, coercion, or deception. In some cases, individuals may feel pressured to become indentured servants in order to access employment, education, or migration opportunities.
Many people became indentured servants because they were seeking economic opportunities, such as escape from poverty or the chance to start a new life in a different country. By agreeing to work for a set period of time in exchange for passage to a new land, some saw indentured servitude as a way to improve their circumstances and gain opportunities they may not have had access to otherwise.
Owners of large plantations would prefer slaves over indentured servants because slaves could be owned for life and were considered property, providing greater control and ensuring a continuous source of cheap labor. Indentured servants had limited terms of service and some legal protections, making them less profitable and reliable for long-term agricultural work. Furthermore, slaves were seen as a permanent underclass, ensuring a highly stratified social structure that benefited plantation owners.
Indentured servants started to leave plantations for various reasons, such as completing their term of service, seeking better opportunities elsewhere, facing mistreatment and harsh conditions on the plantation, or choosing to escape to gain freedom. Some also found ways to secure their own land and start their own farms after completing their contracts.