Reference & Research
350 Rowe Boulevard
Annapolis, MD 21401
MD toll free (800) 235-4045
or (410) 260-6400
fax: (410) 974-2525
email:
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Maryland State Archives Reference & Research |
350 Rowe Boulevard
Annapolis, MD 21401
MD toll free (800) 235-4045
or (410) 260-6400
fax: (410) 974-2525
email:
ref@mdsa.net
|
|
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Understanding Maryland Records
Indentured servants
were persons obliged by contract to work for a stated number of years.
During the early settlement of Maryland, many newcomers were indentured
servants who wanted to immigrate to the colony, but could not pay for passage.
Those people could agree to exchange time in service for the cost of the
voyage. The servant might have accompanied his master to Maryland, or signed
papers with a sea captain who then sold the contract after landing in the
colony. One form of indenture obliged the master to provide transportation,
food, clothing, and lodging for the servant during the term of servitude.
On completion of the servant's term, the master may have promised to furnish
clothing, a year's provision of corn, and the right to 50 acres of land.
The usual length of service was 4 to 5 years, but in the case of a valuable
skilled worker, such as a blacksmith or cooper, the time could be shortened
to induce the person to sign.
In 1717, the British
Parliament adopted a policy of transportation, which banished convicts
to the American colonies, usually for 7 years, and this allowed them to
be bought and sold as indentured servants during their sentences. These
indentured servants were subject to the master's discipline and could be
sold to other masters. Neither men nor women could marry until they completed
or purchased their service contracts.
A person could be placed
in servitude by the action of a county court. In 1773, for example, a Frederick
County female servant was adjudged for bastardy, having a child "begot
by a Negro." The child had been born free because that was the status of
the mother. The white mother was sold for 7 years of servitude and her
mulatto daughter, 11 months old, was sold as a servant to serve until age
of 31 years.
Return
to Understanding Maryland Records
Questions regarding Archives' collections and services should be directed
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