a voyage to america

A Voyage to America, Hist 140 Final Essay #1, Terry Onley

Well, there I am, 20 (ah, to be 20 again!), orphaned, standing on the docks one fine day

in 1720, trying to decide which ship to sign on to, to be an indentured servant in the Colonies.

Really don’t think I want to go to the Southern Colonies. The plantation system,

flourishing under the economic aristocracy of the plantation owners, is the major source of

employment for such as I, and from what I’ve read and heard, my chances of surviving the

period of my indenture are pretty slim. While perhaps not as bad as in the 17th Century, the

unfamiliar diseases and climate still claim many folk’s lives early on, especially since the

treatment of indentured servants is stunningly bad on a plantation. In general, these

unfortunate folk are starved, bereft of decent clothing, and often treated worse than the

African slaves. The chances of being allowed to complete one’s indenture and be released are

small, too, with much extending of indentures and larceny on the part of the plantation owners,

coupled with the hearty cooperation of the local social justice system. There is no profit to the

employer in releasing an indentured servant, and some cost, so these men will go to great

lengths to put off the event. None of this sounds all that appealing.

The choice between the New England Colonies and the Middle Colonies is somewhat

more unclear. The climate in the Middle Colonies is certainly more temperate, and there would

probably be more opportunities for an agricultural type job than in the New England area.

Probably more opportunities for any kind of job, as at that point the Middle Colonies were

doing pretty well. Still that little problem of collusion between the land-owners and the local

law about extending indentures.


Then, unfortunately, it seems that there was relatively little demand for indentured

servants in the New England Colonies. Although in general the Puritans were honest folk, who

would not cheat a servant, farming families in general were unable to afford them, beyond

perhaps one, because the shorter growing seasons made the land less productive. Many of the

Puritans brought their house servant(s) across the Atlantic, and never hired another.

Maybe I could get a job with a Puritan family here in England that’s getting ready to

emigrate? Probably not, or I would already be working for someone. Sometimes, life just sucks.

I think I would probably choose the Middle Colonies, and hope that I got a gig with a

nice Quaker landowner, who wouldn’t work me to death and starve me. Then, maybe he’d be

honest enough not to cheat me out of my release from indenture and the little plot of land that

was customarily given at that time. If it all worked out, life in general would probably be better

there than in the North, because it would be a lot easier to get a crop in before the frost came,

and it’s just a bit warmer and easier to make it through the winter. Also, as mentioned earlier,

the general economic climate in the Middle Colonies was pretty good at that time, with less of

that really rich-really poor spread than in the South, and more opportunities for a working man

or farmer that in the New England Colonies.

The Southern Colonies just sound like a really bad deal, unless you happen to be one of

the economic and social rulers, the plantation owners and the rich merchants. Not too hot on

the idea of all those strange fevers and fluxes and whatnot, either.


Well, gotta go if I’m going to make it onto that ship over there bound for Pennsylvania

before it sails. Who knows, maybe I’ll meet a nice girl over there, settle down, and have a bunch

of kids! They sure wouldn’t recognize me in East Anglia then, would they! Maybe I’ll become a

Quaker!

Say, you wouldn’t happen to have a couple of bottles of Bonine, would you? Or some of

those nice scopolamine patches? That water looks kind of rough… oops, sorry, wrong century!

a voyage to america

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