08-24-2017, 02:14 AM
I can see the difference in the two. When African people were kidnapped and brought in the bottom of filthy ships to America and subjected to generations trapped in slavery, it was a far cry from how some of the others were enslaved. For example there was the indentured servant, which was a form of slavery. I doubt these servants were treated as ugly as the people kidnapped from Africa though. Because of their skin color they were perceived as less than human, which is in and of itself a disgusting attitude to have, especially in this day and age when we are supposedly more civilized. Two of my ancestors were indentured servants for at least seven years, the usual term for that, and their story of how they came to America is one of my favorites that I've run across since I've been doing my genealogy.
In England (and most likely other places as well) some ship owners had a shanghai system. The owner or captain of a seafaring vessel would employ a teen he could trust, and have them go around town bragging to other teens about the ship he works on... it's a real fine ship... come on down to the dock on this certain night and I'll show it to you. They would go, and while they were being given a "tour," the captain would set sail taking however many hostages the teen managed to talk onto the ship. There was no way out once they set sail. A few months later they would arrive in America and start out as indentured servants.
Two of my ancestors, boyfriend and girlfriend, fell victim to this practice. They served their time as indentured servants, and then when he could finally afford to buy his freedom, she did not have enough money. He took on work and stayed around to help her buy her freedom, and they went off and got married. He ended up serving in the Revolutionary War (as did several more of my ancestors), and later on as a pension he received 300 acres of land in what was originally Virginia. When the Civil War rolled around that part of the state split off and formed a new state, West Virginia. The land my ancestors received as a war pension is now much of Wyoming County, WV.
In England (and most likely other places as well) some ship owners had a shanghai system. The owner or captain of a seafaring vessel would employ a teen he could trust, and have them go around town bragging to other teens about the ship he works on... it's a real fine ship... come on down to the dock on this certain night and I'll show it to you. They would go, and while they were being given a "tour," the captain would set sail taking however many hostages the teen managed to talk onto the ship. There was no way out once they set sail. A few months later they would arrive in America and start out as indentured servants.
Two of my ancestors, boyfriend and girlfriend, fell victim to this practice. They served their time as indentured servants, and then when he could finally afford to buy his freedom, she did not have enough money. He took on work and stayed around to help her buy her freedom, and they went off and got married. He ended up serving in the Revolutionary War (as did several more of my ancestors), and later on as a pension he received 300 acres of land in what was originally Virginia. When the Civil War rolled around that part of the state split off and formed a new state, West Virginia. The land my ancestors received as a war pension is now much of Wyoming County, WV.