Rachel Udabe DBQ Indentured Servants March 1, 2012 After the successful antislavery movements in the 1800s, indentured

servitude became a widely used form of labor. Indentured servitude was the recruitment of labor for North America, where the laborers receive passage and a wage. In the 1800s to 1900s indentured servitude was used due to the demand for laborers after slavery was banned; the demand and the emigrants had social consequences, some of them focusing on the treatment of the servants themselves. After slavery was abolished, there was a big need of labor in South Africa, island colonies, the Caribbean, and South America as shown in the map in Doc. 3. In this document, the flow of servants mostly came from British India and Southeast Asia, with agreements from their country for passage. Doc. 2 highlights the need for additional labor in South Africa for the sugar cultivation. It shows how, with the demand of sugar, more workers are required, many of which being indentured servants. Doc. 5 shows pictures of the workers on the worker plantations. The amount of laborers pictured shows the demand for work and the numerous people ready for the low-paying job. These photographs are reliable because they are showing how the workers actually were. They do not exaggerate the work. Doc. 5 also shows a picture of an Asian Indian working for a white man, showing that there is still white racial supremacy, even though slavery is gone. These documents show that the reason for the indentured servants is the abolition of slavery and the demand for labor. There were some consequences from the indentured servants relating to the population influx of workers to the new areas, shown in documents 4, 6, and 9. Doc. 4 shows the specific origins of the servants and their destinations for working. The biggest movement of peoples was from India to Mauritius, British Guiana, and South Africa. The new workers affected the new land with their customs. This document is reliable because it shows the total number of peoples, without bias, just factual. Doc. 6 shows Indian immigration to Mauritius, the island with the largest amount of indentured servants. The indentured servants made up more of the population than the former slaves did, because it was a popular form of labor. This source is reliable because it is facts from the British government. Doc. 9 also shows how the servants affected the populations of the places where the laborers worked. There was a large percentage of workers to

places, especially to Mauritius. These documents show the demographic consequences of indentured servitude. There were also personal consequences of the servitude. Doc. 1 shows that the initial proposition of having servants was not for better working conditions or because it was mandatory to work. Herman Merivale says that the workers have been raised because the emigrate for wages and to have a better life for themselves. Doc. 7 shows the utopian way of indentured servitude; the way it should be. Everyone would get wages, albeit small ones, as well as their return passage and necessary amenities. This source is reliable because it is the actual agreement that servants had to sign. The problem was that the agreement might not always be right like shown in Doc. 8. Doc. 8 is a complaint by a servant about the work and low wages. This shows that the indentured system may not always be right. A beneficial document would be one that give an account, perhaps a diary entry, of the actual worker benefits of servitude, so it is known that the servitude was not all bad. These documents show the social problems of indentured servitude. All the indentured migration in the 1800s to 1900s was from the lack of slaves and the subsequent demand for labor, but the migrations did affect the new areas and had a social affect on the laborers, even after agreements were made.