Colonial America: Chesapeake, New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies Overview

Chesapeake Colonies: Virginia and Indentured Servitude

• Indentured Servitude:

  • Duration: Typically 6 to 8 years.

  • Compensation: Paid for with housing, passage to America, and a guaranteed spot on a boat to the colonies.

  • Survival: Not guaranteed due to the climate and geography, which led to significant disease early on.

  • Demographics: The majority of Europeans coming to Virginia were indentured servants, not aristocrats or cavaliers.

  • Motivation: Poor individuals in England sought access to their own land, a dream largely impossible in England where land was controlled by nobility and elites for generations. They were willing to sell themselves into servitude for this opportunity.

• Headright System:

  • Eligibility: Indentured servants who survived their term could apply for a headright.

  • Land Grant: Usually involved receiving about 100 to 150 acres of free land per person.

  • Location: Most likely not along a river but further out west.

  • Principle: Operated on a