The Slaves of the Northern Colonies

The United States is a country of immigrants, people who have come from another country to live here. The United States has been called the land of opportunity and has been described as having, "streets paved with gold." Millions of people made the choice to immigrate to America.

Even our oldest residents, who we now call Native Americans, may have walked across a solid land strip from Siberia into North America seeking better hunting and gathering. There were however, other immigrants who had no choice in coming to America.

Many of the early new comers to America were forced to make the perilous passage from their homelands. The most notable of this group were the slaves who were brought here from their homelands in Africa. They endured unspeakable torment, torture and pain during their passage and then forced into labor upon arrival.

These slaves had no choice of labor nor was there a specific length of time they were to serve. They were sentenced to a life of servitude. There were others, though who were also forced to immigrate and they too suffered hardships to reach a place they would rather not reach. These were the indentured servants, and convicted convicts.

Indentured servants were people, many were young children, who were sold as laborers to serve in the New World. The children came from poor families, who could not afford to feed or support them. Whole families would be driven from their rural lands and forced to board ships by unscrupulous nobles and land owners. These were the slaves of the Northern colonies and states.

They were sold to a master for their passage. In return they performed labor for a settled on period of time, usually six to 10 years. Babies and very young children were given terms that ended when they became twenty-one years old. During this time, their service could be sold or even inherited; they had no choice or decision on whom they were required to work out their time with.

The servant was denied any freedoms and was subjected to horrific living and working conditions. Sadly, most did not live to see their freedom

.The convicted convicts were also sold to masters. Their terms were usually longer and the work forced on them was less desirable. They were mostly unskilled people convicted of poverty driven crimes like theft. Some were political prisoners, usually convicted of religious crimes. There were also many poor souls who were just placed on ships without settling the costs of transport. They would wait until arrival in America and then be sold. The trip to America was long and filled with unthinkable perils. Many did not survive.

The passage was described by a German, Gotlieb Mittleberg, who had made the trip in 1754. This is what he said:

"During the voyage there is on board these ships terrible misery, stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of sea-sickness, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy, cancer, mouth-rot, and the like, all of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water, so that many die miserably. Add to this want of provisions, hunger, thirst, frost, heat, dampness, anxiety, want, afflictions and lamentations, together with other trouble, as . . . the lice abound so frightfully, especially on sick people, that they can be scraped off the body. The misery reaches the climax when a gale rages for 2 or 3 nights and days, so that everyone believes that the ship will go to the bottom with all human beings on board. In such a visitation the people cry and pray most piteously . . . When the ships have landed at Philadelphia after their long voyage, no one is permitted to leave them except those who pay for their passage or can give good security; the others, who cannot pay, must remain on board the ships till they are purchased, and are released from the ships by their purchasers. The sick always fare the worst, for the healthy are naturally preferred and purchased first; and so the sick and wretched must often remain on board in front of the city for 2 or 3 weeks, and frequently die, whereas many a one, if he could pay his debt and were permitted to leave the ship immediately, might recover and remain alive."

When people died on board, their belongings would be stolen often leaving a spouse or children unable to barter their passage and that of the departed. They were forced into servitude for many years.

It would also happen that a family would lose all their resources during the passage, either by theft or to procure necessary items to stay alive. Upon arrival they would be separated while being sold to different masters. Parents were not told where their children were sold and children were ripped from their mother's arms. This was the plight of the indentured servant.

It is true that some of the indentured servants were given highly prized skills for their time of service but most were poorly treated and never lived to see their freedom. Often a master would trick a servant into more time.

Women were raped and impregnated and then had the time she took off to deliver and care for the baby added to her time in service, the baby would be sold to another master. Many indentured servants ran away, risking their lives or a lifetime of servitude if they were caught.

These people provided the labor for an emerging nation. They were the slaves of the North, these bricklayers, carpenters, butchers, blacksmiths and general laborers. They built the homes, businesses and government buildings. On their backs cities were built, while others provided the food from the emerging agricultural developments.

The indentured servant provided the labor when no other labor was to be found. This labor was provided at little cost and much disregard to the laborer. Enormous profits were realized by the masters who strived to preserve this system of forced servitude.