Definitions for "Indentured servant"
A person who has sold their labour for a set period of time.
Settler who signed on for a temporary period of servitude to a master in exchange for passage to the New World; Virginia and Pennsylvania were largely peopled in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by English indentured servants.
One who was voluntarily or involuntarily committed to working for someone for a specified number of years (usually 4-10). In most cases, this was in exchange for passsage to America, but people entered into these types of contracts or arrangements for a wide variety of reasons. These people had few-if any-rights, but many pursued this type of position when faced with starvation or deportation. Most people in this catagory had few skills and little access to money. It was the only way for many commoners to afford the passage to America. After the period of work was over, the servant became a FREEMAN. From a legal perspective, Blacks were technically considered INDENTURED SERVANTS, but their emigration to the America was NOT voluntary (in most cases), and their period of indenture would have been permanent had the Emancipation Proclaimation never been issued.
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