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==North America== Between one-half and two-thirds of white immigrants to the American colonies between the 1630s and American Revolution came under indentures.〔Galenson 1984: 1〕 However, while half the European immigrants to the Thirteen Colonies had been indentured servants, at any one time they were outnumbered by workers who had never been indentured, or whose indenture had expired. Free wage labour was more common for Europeans in the colonies.〔John Donoghue, "Indentured Servitude in the 17th Century English Atlantic: A Brief Survey of the Literature," ''History Compass'' (2013) 11#10 pp 893–902.〕 Indentured persons were numerically important mostly in the region from Virginia north to New Jersey. Other colonies saw far fewer of them. The total number of European immigrants to all 13 colonies before 1775 was about 500,000; of these 55,000 were involuntary prisoners. Of the 450,000 or so European arrivals who came voluntarily, Tomlins estimates that 48% were indentured.〔Christopher Tomlins, "Reconsidering Indentured Servitude: European Migration and the Early American Labor Force, 1600–1775," ''Labor History'' (2001) 42#1 pp 5–43, at p.〕 About 75% were under the age of 25. The age of legal adulthood for men was 24 years; those over 24 generally came on contracts lasting about 3 years.〔Tomlins (2001) at notes 31, 42, 66〕 Regarding the children who came, Gary Nash reports that, "many of the servants were actually nephews, nieces, cousins and children of friends of emigrating Englishmen, who paid their passage in return for their labour once in America."〔Gary Nash, '' The Urban Crucible: The Northern Seaports and the Origins of the American Revolution'' (1979) p 15〕 Farmers, merchants, and shopkeepers in the British colonies found it very difficult to hire free workers, primarily because it was easy for potential workers to set up their own farms.〔Fred Shannon, ''Economic History of the People of the United States'' (1934) pp 73–79〕 Consequently, a common solution was to transport a young worker from Britain or a German state, who would work for several years to pay off the debt of their travel costs. During the indenture period the servants were not paid cash wages, but were provided with food, accommodation, clothing and training. The indenture document specified how many years the servant would be required to work, after which they would be free. Terms of indenture ranged from one to seven years with typical terms of four or five years.〔(White Servitude ), by Richard Hofstadter〕 In southern New England, a variant form of indentured servitude, which controlled the labour of Native Americans through an exploitative debt-peonage system, developed in the late 17th century and continued through to the period of the American Revolution. Not all European servants came willingly. Several instances of kidnapping for transportation to the Americas are recorded, though these were often indentured in the same way as their willing counterparts. An illustrative example is that of Peter Williamson (1730–1799). As historian Richard Hofstadter pointed out, "Although efforts were made to regulate or check their activities, and they diminished in importance in the eighteenth century, it remains true that a certain small part of the white colonial population of America was brought by force, and a much larger portion came in response to deceit and misrepresentation on the part of the spirits (agents )." Many white immigrants arrived in Colonial America as indentured servants, usually as young men and women from Britain or Germany, under the age of 21. Typically, the father of a teenager would sign the legal papers, and work out an arrangement with a ship captain, who would not charge the father any money.〔William Moraley and Susan E. Klepp, ''The infortunate: the voyage and adventures of William Moraley an indentured servant'', Google Books, page xx〕 The captain would transport the indentured servants to the American colonies, and sell their legal papers to someone who needed workers. At the end of the indenture, the young person was given a new suit of clothes and was free to leave. Many immediately set out to begin their own farms, while others used their newly acquired skills to pursue a trade.〔James Curtis Ballagh, ''White Servitude In The Colony Of Virginia: A Study Of The System Of Indentured Labor In The American Colonies'' (1895)〕〔Frank R. Diffenderffer, ''The German Immigration into Pennsylvania Through the Port of Philadelphia, 1700–1775'', (1979); this book describes the indenturing process in detail for immigrants from numerous European countries.〕〔 〕 A few became sufficiently prosperous that they were eventually able to acquire indentured servants of their own.〔''The Fort Scott Tribune'', (newspaper) Fort Scott, Kansas, Monday, November 3, 1986, p.4B〕 Given the high death rate, many servants did not live to the end of their terms.〔 In the 18th and early 19th century, numerous Europeans, mostly from outside the British Isles, traveled to the colonies as redemptioners, a particularly harsh form of indenture.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Price & Associates: Immigrant Servants Database )〕 Indentured servants were a separate category from bound apprentices. The latter were American-born children, usually orphans or from an impoverished family who could not care for them. They were under the control of courts and were bound out to work as an apprentice until a certain age. Two famous bound apprentices were Benjamin Franklin who illegally fled his apprenticeship to his brother, and Andrew Johnson, who later became President of the United States.〔Ruth Wallis Herndon and John E. Murray, eds., ''Children Bound to Labor: The Pauper Apprentice System in Early America'' (2009)〕 George Washington used indentured servants;〔"(George Washington: Farmer )", by Paul Leland Haworth.〕 in April 1775, he offered a reward for the return of two runaway white servants.〔"(The forgotten history of Britain's white slaves )". ''The Daily Telegraph''. May 3, 2007.〕 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 the Americas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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