The emergence of American Labor
"On August 5, 1774, just a month before the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, the ship Needham landed in New York from Newry, England, Captain William Cunningham, master. The ship's cargo was white indentured servants. On arrival they protested to the authorities that they had been kidnapped in Ireland and had suffered "bad usage" on the voyage across the Atlantic."--Excerpt
Indenture Contract of William Buckland
August 4, 1755
Indentured Servants in Maryland
Laws, information and primary source links
“I Was Sure of Getting a Trade”:
John Fitch's Long Journey Towards Becoming an Artisan
Laws of Indentured Servants
August 3, 1619
“Our Plantation Is Very Weak”:
The Experiences of an Indentured Servant in Virginia, 1623
Slavery and Indentured Servants
Law Library of Congress
Search the Registers of Servants Sent to Foreign Plantations, 1654-1686
A database of indenture contracts
Servants and Slaves and their legal disposition 1619, Virginia
Thomas D. Russell, Sturm College of Law, University of Denver
Alba Reynaga
Reference Librarian
First Hand Accounts of Virginia, 1575-1705
Indenture Contract of Richard Lowther
"THIS WRITEING INDENTED made the Last day of July/Anno Dom 1627 And in the Third yeare of the raigne of our Sovraigne Lord Charles by the Grace of God king of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the faith &c. betweene Richard Lowther of Broome in the Parish of South well [i.e., Southill] in the County of Bedford brewer of thone party and Edward Hurd Citizen and Ironmonger of London of thither party witnesseth that the said Richard Lowther…"
(Read more of this excerpt of indentured servitude.)
Alba Reynaga
Reference Librarian & History subject specialist
Available by appointment for classes, research consultations or individual student instruction. Contact me at 203-392-5134 or via email at morrisa10@southernct.edu.