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Indentured servitude in Pennsylvania (1682-1820s): The institution of indentured servitude has a significant place in the history of labor in Pennsylvania. From the founding of the colony (1681/2) to the early post-revolution period (1820s), indentured servants contributed considerably to the development of agriculture and various industries in Pennsylvania. Moreover, Pennsylvania itself has a notable place in the broader history of indentured servitude in North America. As Cheesman Herrick stated, "This system of labor was more important to Pennsylvania than it was to any other colony or state; it continued longer in Pennsylvania than elsewhere."〔Cheesman Herrick, ''White Servitude in Pennsylvania: Indentured and Redemption Labor in Colony and Commonwealth'' (New York: Negro University Press, 1969), 26.〕 ==Trends== The features of indentured servitude in Pennsylvania, like other colonies, underwent a series of transformations. For example, indentured servitude initially possessed a patriarchal character. Under the "head right" system, prospective proprietors could receive for each "head" (servant/laborer) they brought over, with being given to the servant once his/her indenture had expired.〔Herrick, ''White Servitude'', 32–34.〕 Most of the indentured servants that migrated to Pennsylvania at this time had some form of acquaintanceship with their masters. In turn, many of the contracts established between the masters and servants were oral and based upon certain "customs" of the home country. In addition, "immigrants in bondage" were "criminals" in England. This could mean a great many things. Many were non-conformists, had problems with the church, or had committed an offense as small as stealing a loaf of bread.〔Herrick, White Servitude, 52.; Sharon Salinger, ''"To serve well and faithfully": Labor and Indentured servants in Pennsylvania, 1682-1800'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 25.〕 Yet, as time progressed the system became more "systematized," acquiring certain standardized procedures and regulations. The transition to written contracts reflected this development. In addition, such factors as poverty, dislocation, personal ambition, or criminal activity "produced" enough indentured servants to support a well-functioning market structure.〔Salinger, "To serve well and faithfully", 3.; Abbot Emerson Smith, ''Colonists in Bondage: White Servitude and Convict Labor in America, 1607-1776'' (University of North Carolina Press, 1965), 7.〕 Indeed, the institution of indentured servitude assumed the characteristics of a "modern labor market."〔Robert Heavner, "Indentured Servitude: The Philadelphia Market, 1771-1773," ''The Journal of Economic History'' 38, no. 3 (September 1978): 713.〕 During the early period, much of the work undertaken by indentured servants related to agriculture and "taming" the wilderness (e.g. clearing forests).〔Salinger, ''"To serve well and faithfully"'', 22.〕 As industry developed, however, the demand for skilled labor increased; while agriculture still demanded indentured servants, the emergence of different industries required a diverse workforce.〔Salinger, ''"To serve well and faithfully"'', 23–24.; David Galenson, "The Rise and Fall of Indentured Servitude in the Americas: An Economic Analysis," ''The Journal of Economic History'' 44, no. 1 (March 1984): 11–12.〕 Free labor at this stage proved scarce and highly expensive, thus compelling colonists to seek an alternative via servants (and slaves).〔Salinger, ''"To serve well and faithfully"'', 22–23.〕 Moreover, the origins and "types" of servants changed over time. Whereas indentured servants in late-17th and early-18th centuries migrated predominantly from England, Scotland, and Wales (Great Britain after 1707 Acts of Union), a majority of those in the mid-to-late 18th century consisted of (northern) Irish and German/Palatinate immigrants.〔Herrick, ''White Servitude'', 142.; Salinger, ''"To serve well and faithfully"'', 3.〕 With this "transition" in the national compositions of indentured servants came a shift in the particular "form" of the institution. In the 1720s the "redemptionist system" began to replace the older structure, a subject to be discussed below. This type of indentured servitude provided the greatest source of labor by the end of the 18th century.〔Farley Grubb, "The Auction of Redemptioner Servants, Philadelphia, 1771-1804: An Economic Analysis," ''The Journal of Economic History'' 48, no. 3 (September 1988): 583.〕 The collapse of indentured servitude has been a subject of debate. A categorization of this debate could roughly divide the positions into "demand" and "supply." Those on the former, such as Sharon Salinger and Cheesman Herrick, have argued that the system collapsed as a result of a growing free labor supply in Pennsylvania: employers found free labor less expensive and more flexible than indentured servitude.〔Salinger, ''"To serve well and faithfully"'', 148, 150-151.; Herrick, ''White Servitude'', 265-266.〕 Thus, the demand of employers essentially determined the rise and fall of the system. Scholars arguing on the "supply" side have maintained that the ability of migrants to finance their passage to the "new world" ultimately undermined the system. David Galenson, for example, said the fact "that the great nineteenth-century migration of Europeans to the Americas was composed of free individuals and families appears to have been a consequence of both falling transportation costs and rising European income levels." 〔Galenson, "Indentured Servitude in the Americas," 25.〕 Farley Grubb approached the issue from a different perspective; he contended that the demand model fails to provide a satisfactory explanation because employers still paid high prices for indentured (redemptioner) servants. Analyzing specifically German migration in the 19th-century, Grubb attributed the end of indentured servitude to the ability of immigrant families in the United States to finance the transportation of relatives through remittances, a "system" facilitated by the declining price of passage–fare.〔Farley Grubb, "The End of European Immigrant Servitude in the United States: An Economic Analysis of Market Collapse, 1772-1835," ''The Journal of Economic History'' 54, no.4 (December 1994): 804-805.〕 Without evaluating the merits of these explanations, the following article seeks to outline various components surrounding indentured servitude in Pennsylvania, dealing (roughly) with time period of 1682–1820. Of course, a number of these aspects were not unique to Pennsylvania, but, rather, represent features characterizing the institution generally. Yet, the following information will also show that Pennsylvanian society and government, like that of other colonies, had their own particular ways of appropriating the institution of indentured servitude. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Indentured servitude in Pennsylvania」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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