Other
Virtual Jamestown: Experiences of an Indentured Servant
This site from the Virtual Jamestown of Crandall Shifflett provides the letter of Richard Frethorne to his parents in 1623 begging for their support in a desperate situation.
Ibis Communications
Eye Witness to History: Passage to America, 1750
This article details the passage to America in 1750 through the eyes of a German immigrant.
Library of Virginia
Virginia Memory: Petition of Phillip Gowen
This lesson explores the practice of indentured servitude in colonial Virginia. Students examine a petition by Phillip Gowen, an African American indentured servant, who asked the governor of Virginia to release him from servitude in 1675.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Southern Colonies: Maryland the Catholic Experiment
What began as a place of refuge for Catholics who were discriminated against in England, the colony of Maryland soon suffered religious strife even after the passage of the Toleration Act of 1649. Find out what caused the strife and why...
Digital History
Digital History: Slavery Takes Root in Colonial Virginia
Read about how the decrease in the availability of indentured servants led to a vast increase in the importation of African slaves into the southern colonies. Bacon's Rebellion even had an effect on the replacement of indentured servants...
University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota: Coolie Trade in the 19th Century
This resource consists of historical documents about Chinese coolies imported to Cuba during the 19th century. Its goal is to highlight the human experience during the coolie trade and to encourage critical thinking about how the coolie...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Britain in the New World: The Growth of the Tobacco Trade
Many colonists came to Jamestown to find gold. Read about what finally brought money into the colony, and what John Rolfe's role was in that. Read about who the workers were who provided the labor for this new money source.
Digital History
Digital History: Toward Slavery
A brief description of the course toward making African slaves chattel property, which greatly restricted any hints of personal freedom.
Open Door Team
Open Door Web Site: First British Colony: Virginia
Here is a brief, to-the-point account of the settlement at Jamestown and its ultimate success.
PBS
Africans in America: Virginia Recognizes Slavery
Here is a general description of the gradual change from using indentured servants to recognizing Africans as slaves and the laws reflecting this change.
PBS
Pbs: Africans in America: Shift From Indentured Servitude to Lifelong Slavery
This discussion by Prof. Peter Wood of Duke University explores what may have allowed the shift from indentured servitude to lifelong slavery for Africans and their children. Click on Teacher's Guide for teacher resources.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Colonies
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart describes and gives background on life in the original colonies. Regional differences between the colonies are discussed. Activities include graphic organizers, charts and reading passages.
Ancestry
Immigrants: Indentured Servants
This page gives information about the indentured servants brought from England to Colonial Virginia during the seventeenth century.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Life in the Plantation South
Plantation life was a dichotomy between rich and poor, land owners and laborers. Read about the life of the rich plantation owners and their families. See how the role of women was different on the plantations.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Southern Colonies
The Southern Colonies developed their own personality, just as the New England and Middle colonies did. Read about the economy of the Southern Colonies, their labor force, and why the second-born of wealthy English familes came to this...
Curated OER
Indenture Contract, 1684
Two examples of indenture contracts and three accounts of indentured servitude, including positive as well as admonitory views, in the Chesapeake English colonies.