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Commonwealth Museum   Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin
Commonwealth Museum Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin

Indentured Servitude

Massachusetts relied on indentured servants throughout the colonial period. Indentured servitude ended with the American Revolution.

An eighteenth century engraving plate from William Hogarth’s satire about “prentices.” Sometimes the terms indentured servant and apprentice were used interchangeably. In some cases families paid for an apprenticeship. Either way, supervision could be harsh. Metropolitan Museum of Art An eighteenth century engraving plate from William Hogarth’s satire about “prentices.” Sometimes the terms indentured servant and apprentice were used interchangeably. In some cases families paid for an apprenticeship. Either way, supervision could be harsh.
- Metropolitan Museum of Art

Term Limits

Many poor Britons agreed to a period, often between four and seven years, of servitude in the New World. Some received little more than passage to America. Others learned a trade or received a promise of land. Not to be confused with slavery, which was permanent and hereditary, indentures included a significant loss of freedom, including the freedom to marry. Harsh punishments were possible.

Indenture, 1687 In this Indenture, John Chickring of Boston, agrees to a term of four years to learn the arts of “Navigation and of a Mariner.” He cannot “contract matrimony, nor frequent Taverns, ordinarys nor places of Gaming nor absent himself from the Service of his said master by day or night without leave.” Indenture, 1687
In this Indenture, John Chickring of Boston, agrees to a term of four years to learn the arts of “Navigation and of a Mariner.” He cannot “contract matrimony, nor frequent Taverns, ordinarys nor places of Gaming nor absent himself from the Service of his said master by day or night without leave.”
- Massachusetts Archives
Plimoth/Patuxet Museums (formerly Plimoth Plantation) - World Encyclopedia
Plimoth/Patuxet Museums (formerly Plimoth Plantation)
- World Encyclopedia

Tragedy in Plymouth
 On January 15, 1654 the lifeless body of John Walker, a fourteen-year-old indentured servant, was examined in the Plymouth Colony. He had been beaten, deprived of food and winter clothing, and seriously injured by the collapse of a heavy beam. His master, Robert Latham, was convicted of manslaughter, branded, and deprived of all property. Latham’s wife, Susannah, was brought before the court but not punished.

Seventeenth Century Ships. The Kalmar Nykel is a replica of a Swedish ship that arrived in Delaware in 1638. The original was built in the Netherlands. Major European powers launched ships of similar design. - The Maritime Museum and Aquarium Seventeenth Century Ships. The Kalmar Nykel is a replica of a Swedish ship that arrived in Delaware in 1638. The original was built in the Netherlands. Major European powers launched ships of similar design.  
- The Maritime Museum and Aquarium

Criminal Enterprise

Imperial powers transported prisoners to America. The Dutch sent criminals and vagrants to New Amsterdam (current New York). Sweden sent political prisoners to its short-lived colony in present day Delaware. New France also received prisoners. The mayors of London and Liverpool gathered homeless children and teens for sale as indentured servants in America.