Slaves And Indentured Servants

Differences Between African Slave Life and European Indentured Servant Life The lives of African slaves and the lives of European indentured servants were very different. African slaves were African and the Europeans treated them like animals. Although the European indentured servants were also treated badly, they were fellow Europeans and weren’t treated as bad. Indentured servants were freed after their period of duty and were paid to do their work. They weren’t captured to be indentured servants they were often lured. Slaves were taken by force and slavery went on indefinitely.

One reason why the African slaves were different from the European indentured servants is obvious because the Africans were African and the Europeans were Europeans. Therefore, that changed many things since they were different races. Since Africans weren’t counted as people they didn’t have any rights at all and they were owned by their master. They didn’t have any living space so about ten slaves would stay in one room with absolutely no furniture. “Our beds were collections of straw and old rags, thrown down in corners and boxed in with boards, a single blanket the only covering,” says an African slave.

When it was time for the slaves to be sold their buyers would put them on a block and say how healthy they were and examine their teeth as if they were animals to explain how much work they could do. However, the indentured servants were treated a bit differently because they were fellow Europeans. They had rights, a few, but some. They even could vote if their masters permitted them to do so. After their period of duty they were able to do everything that their masters could do. Indentured servants were bought and sold but they weren’t examined like they were animals as the slaves were.

African slaves and indentured servants were also different because indentured servants were freed after their period of duty. After they worked from four to seven years they were freed and given land, clothing, corn, and hoes. They couldn’t be held more than seven years. Even though their masters tried to keep them for a longer time by convicting them of impregnating a female servant, they eventually had to let them go African slaves were never freed. At times their masters would free them but most likely they were never freed, they had to do dull and repetitive work all their lives until they died of old age or were killed by their masters. And if they were freed they weren’t given anything, no land, no clothing, to start their new lives.

Finally, indentured servants were not taken by force to get on the ship they were often lured. The “spirits” (people who recruited indentured servants) found the servants easily. They would bring the servants to dinner and give them lots of wine to get them drunk and when they were drunk the “spirits” would have them to sign the papers. Also children would be lured on the ships by candy. When they got on the ships they got allowances of bread with little living space. On the other hand, African American slaves were seized by force and no papers were signed. “We were alarmed one morning, just at the break of day, by the horrible uproar caused by the mingled shouts of men”¦The village was surrounded by enemies, who attacked us with clubs, long wooden spears and bow and arrows.” says an African slave. Also when the Africans got on the ship they had a tiny bit of living space and were chained to the ships from their hands and feet.

In conclusion the African slaves’ lives were different from the Indentured servants’ lives. The African slaves’ lives were a bit harsher, rougher, inhumane and that treatment went on longer. The indentured servants’ lives were a bit easier than the African slaves’ lives and ended within a certain period of time.