Indentured Servants and Natives in American History: A Quick Review

 I would like to very quickly list a few references that all of you may want to look over that explains some other issues on American history and the suffering by the white people and immigrants that took place. I recently received a comment that offered the advice that I write something on the subject. This is not all I intend to post in fact; I will be working diligently over the next few weeks researching all the facts so that I can write an article on the topic.  As for now I want to supply a few links that might give some insight to those of you that may not understand what it truly took to create a country as grand as the United States of America. It may not be as pretty as you thought. And this is not including what African Americans went through. This only focuses on white people and white immigrants.

Here are the links:

·        Clark, F. E. (1912).  Our immigrants at Ellis Island. Boston, MA: United Society of Christian Endeavor. Retrieved from the Library of Congress at http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/immigration/pdf/our_immigrants.pdf

This link is an account of what immigrants coming to America had to endure upon arrival. I highly recommend this link if you want to understand what it felt like if you were a foreigner coming to make a new life in America. From the beginning, you were inspected from head to toe and questioned several times. It is a sad but true account of how we managed immigrants. I loved the conversation between Pat O’Flaherty and the inspector. I give this man a round of applause!

·         http://www.ushistory.org/us/5b.asp

This discusses what indentured servants went through. For those of you that do not know what an indentured servant is, let me explain. The term indentured servant basically meant a form of bondage. Mostly, this was debt bondage because the wealthy would pay for the poor man’s (or women’s) trip to America, as long as they worked for them for a time period. Normally, this was seven years. This is a pretty good link that provides insight to the indentured servant’s life.

·        http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/colonial/indians/

This link goes over the Jamestown Settlement and the Natives there. It is a good way to understand early America and the Natives thoughts.

·        http://topconservativenews.com/2012/03/americas-first-slave-owner-was-a-black-man/

This link explains that it is thought that the first slave owner in America was actually a black man.

·        http://www.revisionisthistory.org/forgottenslaves.html

This link is all about white slaves. The title says it all. The Forgotten Slaves: Whites in Servitude in Early America and Industrial Britain.

I hope that everyone seriously takes the time to go over these links and maybe learn something new. I wish I had enough time to tell you all about this topic, but I am slammed with other projects right now. Let me know if you liked something you have seen, or if you have any recommendations on references for the upcoming blog on this topic.