Bound For a New Life

In my opinion indentured servitude is not fair. It can be unfair to people because of no matter when they started they are free when they turn 21. The indentured servants weren’t always treated fairly. Some kids were kidnapped and forced into indentured servitude. Although some kids agreed to it, ]they didn’t know the conditions they would be working in.

This system wasn’t fair to the younger children. Older children worked for fewer years than younger children. In the article, ‘’Bound For A New Life’’ Robert worked for nine years while Sarah worked for seven years. Robert came over when he was 12 and Sarah came over when she
was 14. At age 21 Robert and Sarah became free.

They were not treated fairly. In the text, it stated that Sarah was beaten by the master’s wife. It said his wife was a mean spirited woman who beat me for the smallest mistakes.” The article stated, ‘’My clothes became ragged and my belly was never full’’. ‘’Robert survived the heat and the disease that was going around while many other servants didn’t.”

Some kids were kidnapped and forced to indentured servitude. One of those kid’s name is Robert. In the article it stated ‘’One terrible night, two men grabbed me and told me I was going to Virginia, like it or not’’. In the text, it said ‘’The men said that children like me were a disgrace to London that our city was filled with orphans begging and stealing on the streets’’.

However, some kids willingly signed up to go to Jamestown. According to the article, Sarah’s family was poor and she has offered her a trip to America. In the article, it said ‘’ In London my family was poor. One day in 1622, when I was 14, a man offered me a chance to sail to America’’. The man in the article said ‘’America is the land of opportunity for a poor girl like you, Just work a few years in Virginia to pay for your passage on the ship, and then you’ll be free to make your own life.”

Based on the text, my opinion is that indentured servitude is not fair. The younger the child was, the longer the child worked. They weren’t treated well. Some kids were kidnapped and some kids agreed to it. Indentured servitude was not fair regardless if they agreed to it or not.