White Servitude in the Colony of Virginia: A Study of the System of Indentured Labor in the American Colonies;

by James Curtis Ballagh

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: History

108 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

1866-1944

Reviews

[Ebook Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ebook wasn't available on Amazon, but found it on Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whit...

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not many works have I come across that deal with this subject. This study focuses on the practise of indentured servitude in the colony of Virginia, and covers the whole process from contract to one becoming a freedman, over three distinct periods which are defined by legal precidents about and for those in servitude. He deftly shows how servitude on the whole, though generally populated by the poor and criminal though at times not, created a strong, mobile, and talented class of citizens when they reached the end of their contract. Although there were times when servitude and slavery were acted upon the same way the indentured person was always just that, a person, who also had the ability to lay grievances before the court, whereas the slave had no ability to do so. On an interesting note he points out that Great Britain had a very large part in creating the slave apparatus in the Colonies through the efforts of the Royal African Company and later by allowing private interest to become involved. Overall I found the study to be quite fascinating and loaded with notes and sources. Anybody interested in Colonial America and its earliest institutions should have this on their shelf.