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Personal Accounts
Through the personal memoirs written by indentured servants, it is evident that life as a laborer in bondage was difficult, and most lived in harsh, degrading conditions. Within the letters, the servants write about their day-to-day lives in their own words. This gives us a glimpse into what their world was like. Common themes within the letters include mistreatment and unhappiness due to lack of freedom. However, in the John Hammond account, conditions did not seem that intolerable.
Elizabeth Sprigs
was an English servant in a Maryland household that financed her passage from England in exchange for a term as an indentured servant. This is a letter that she wrote to her father in 1756 complaining of her "brutal treatment by her master and the harsh privations of daily life."
Ashbridge, Elizabeth. (1807). "Whom Must I Join": Elizabeth Ashbridge, An English 18th century Englishwoman, Becomes A Quaker from Some Account of the Early Part of Life of Elizabeth Ashbridge. , p. 26-36, 44-47
Retrieved from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6511
was an English servant in a Maryland household that financed her passage from England in exchange for a term as an indentured servant. This is a letter that she wrote to her father in 1756 complaining of her "brutal treatment by her master and the harsh privations of daily life."
Ashbridge, Elizabeth. (1807). "Whom Must I Join": Elizabeth Ashbridge, An English 18th century Englishwoman, Becomes A Quaker from Some Account of the Early Part of Life of Elizabeth Ashbridge. , p. 26-36, 44-47
Retrieved from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6511
John Fitch
A young man indentured in Connecticut in the 1760's. He was ambitious and eager to learn the trade in colonial America in exchange for food, lodging, and knowledge of clock making with the Cheney brothers. This was no easy task for Fitch because the brothers were not eager to share food or their innovative ideas. The young man often wondered how he would support himself when he became of age.
Interestingly enough, Fitch became known as the inventor of the steamboat.
A young man indentured in Connecticut in the 1760's. He was ambitious and eager to learn the trade in colonial America in exchange for food, lodging, and knowledge of clock making with the Cheney brothers. This was no easy task for Fitch because the brothers were not eager to share food or their innovative ideas. The young man often wondered how he would support himself when he became of age.
Interestingly enough, Fitch became known as the inventor of the steamboat.
John Hammond
In this letter, Hammond describes how typical life was as an indentured servant and offers his advice to others. You will see how his account of living and working conditions are different than that of Elizabeth Sprigs.
In this letter, Hammond describes how typical life was as an indentured servant and offers his advice to others. You will see how his account of living and working conditions are different than that of Elizabeth Sprigs.
Richard Frethorne
Frethorne's letters are one of the earliest documents describing living conditions in his colony of Jamestown in 1623. The three letters written to his parents are also cited as evidence that the reports circulating in England describing the colonies in Virginia as "a model of justice and equity" were incorrect. Frethorne speaks of homesickness, disease, isolation, and the attacks between his colony and the Indians where many people perished.
Richard Frethorne. In Wikipedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Frethorne
Frethorne's letters are one of the earliest documents describing living conditions in his colony of Jamestown in 1623. The three letters written to his parents are also cited as evidence that the reports circulating in England describing the colonies in Virginia as "a model of justice and equity" were incorrect. Frethorne speaks of homesickness, disease, isolation, and the attacks between his colony and the Indians where many people perished.
Richard Frethorne. In Wikipedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Frethorne
Elizabeth Ashbridge
An interesting life and unique female voice of early American literature, Ashbridge was born in England and sailed to America in 1732 at the age of 19. Throughout her life she was married 3 times and widowed at the age of 14. Ashbridge became a Quaker minister and an autobiographer. She was able to pay for her freedom after completing 3 of the 4 years of servitude by doing odd jobs and sewing. Her religious beliefs caused much turmoil within her second marriage and she decided to write an autobiography of her spiritual life somewhere between her 1741-1746 after her second husband's death.
This is an excerpt from her autobiography in which she was leaving her home in Long Island and setting out to visit relatives in Philadelphia and speaks of her husband's drunken behavior.
An interesting life and unique female voice of early American literature, Ashbridge was born in England and sailed to America in 1732 at the age of 19. Throughout her life she was married 3 times and widowed at the age of 14. Ashbridge became a Quaker minister and an autobiographer. She was able to pay for her freedom after completing 3 of the 4 years of servitude by doing odd jobs and sewing. Her religious beliefs caused much turmoil within her second marriage and she decided to write an autobiography of her spiritual life somewhere between her 1741-1746 after her second husband's death.
This is an excerpt from her autobiography in which she was leaving her home in Long Island and setting out to visit relatives in Philadelphia and speaks of her husband's drunken behavior.