Option #1: Using Indentured Servants for Labor (paper)

Indentured Servants
Name
Institution
Indentured Servants
Indentured servants existed long before the Europeans had started the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This, however, does not mean that slavery was inexistent in the world. Slavery was very much alive, but in America, instead of slaves, the wealthy lot had indentured servants. The first indentured servants were found in Virginia in 1607 when colonialism was beginning. Initially, indentured servants were the perfect source for cheap labor and were in great demand. First of all, an indentured servant is a person or people who were bound by a contract and were, therefore, required to work for a particular timeline or duration before they could be relieved of their duties. Most of them exchanged their services with the land, corn, clothes, cattle, etc. However, their life was quite harsh, but unlike slaves, they had rights, and these were protected. Regardless of their rights, their lives were filled with hardship, and one could be punished whenever they wronged their masters. However, this type of labor was not long-lived and was soon replaced by slavery which introduced a new crop of servants who did not understand their rights and had zero bargaining power. After Massachusetts and Virginia passed slave laws in 1641 and 1661 respectively, things changed, and the indentured servants were replaced with slaves (Lanning, 1996) (Lanehart, 2015).
Indentured slave labor had its issues and was, therefore, not considered the best method to acquire labor. It fell out of favor fast when the slaves arrived and was never considered an option again. According to Barbara, “indentured servants were often beaten, the women often raped, and intolerable living conditions spelled the death of nearly half of all indentured servants within the first two years of service.” However,...