Indentures

Originally, an indenture was a document that is copied verbatim two or three times on the same sheet of paper. Then the copies were cut apart with a curvy or jagged line to prevent forgery and assure that all parties knew and could prove the exact wording of an agreement. This type of instrument, usually a contract, was used when both parties continued to have an interest in the terms of the agreement. (Eventually it came to be used to refer to many land records, even if there were no indented copies.)

As you can see, this is the perfect mechanism when one individual is contracting with another to work for a specified period of time in exchange for something of value. Most people today misunderstand the term indentured servant, giving it meaning beyond what it really had, simply that someone was agreeing to work for another under an indenture.

It is clear that many men and women were indentured to pay for their passage to America or elsewhere, whether that passage was voluntary or not. However, there were others who voluntarily indentured to earn money or acquire assets while they were becoming familiar with the new country, learning English, or honing their skills at a trade.

The colonial period saw many individuals come as indentured servants, also called redemptioners. There were well-organized systems, with agents in England and on the continent and ship owners and captains who held the indenture during passage and sold it upon arrival to those seeking labor. Because an indenture was a document, it could be sold or assigned to someone else. This was done when the owner of that piece described the transfer on it and signed it. If you've ever sold a car through want ads to another individual, you are familiar with this process.

Typical indentures were four to seven years. Skilled craftsmen often received better terms, perhaps even a stipend or tools of their own. In the colonial period, indenture was regulated by England beginning in 1661, which specified that most indentured men and women received clothes and money upon completion of their term...

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