Gottlieb Mittelberger on Indentured Servitude - Term Paper Example

Nonetheless, Mittelberger’s account of his residence in Colonial America allows a glimpse into the harsh conditions of life of the majority of German migrants into the Colonies.

Mittelberger recounts that the migrant passengers were “packed densely, like herrings” into the ships that awaited them in the harbors of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Each person received no more than a 2-ft. wide bedstead, as a typical ship carried over 400 to 600 passengers. The miseries of the passengers usually began in the Dutch waters already, as the ships were compelled to pass through 8-14-day long customs examination at British ports, as they arrived there. However, the real hardship was to begin during the voyage across the Atlantic, as the vessels carrying migrants took 8 to 12 weeks until they reached Philadelphia. During such trips, gales and epidemics often struck the passengers, leading to rather high mortality levels and general discontent. In particular, infants and 1 to 7-year-old children were rarely to survive such trips.

The most degrading part of the voyage, nevertheless, was to begin in the harbor of Philadelphia, as the destitute passengers were effectively sold to those who could pay for their new servants’ passage money. Usually, adult persons were to serve for 3 to 6 years for the benefit of their purchasers, while the adolescents could be purchased to serve until they would be 21 years old. During such sale procedures, whole families have frequently torn apart.

In total, the account by Mittelberger represents scathing damnation of the indentured servitude system in particular and the whole Colonial system of labor migration in general.

Segment 5. William Pitt’s Speech on the Stamp Act, 14 January 1766. This speech by William Pitt, Sr., who was at that time a leader of the Opposition, was to play one of the decisive roles in the repeal of the Stamp Act and the temporary softening of the British position with respect to the Colonies. Pitt pointed out that even “under former arbitrary reigns” it had been assumed that taxation entails the right of representation in the Parliament, and vice versa. He cited the example of Wales to show that the Colonists were right to demand the same attitude towards themselves. Pitt warned that the attempts of “the late administration” to “rob” the Colonies would be a dangerous endeavor that might endanger the existing ties and loyalties between the Crown and its Colonial subjects. Certainly, Pitt proceeded from the assumption of utmost sovereignty of the British Crown and the Parliament over the Colonies; he just believed that it was more expedient to make concessions, rather than to risk the said sovereignty in its totality.

In the end, Pitt warned the House of Commons and the ministers that the potential benefits from the expansion of the American trade and population far outweighed the short-term profits boosted by the supporters of the Stamp Act and that if provoked, America “would fall like the strong man”, putting at risk the whole strategic potential of the United Kingdom.

Segment 6. Proclamation of Rebellion, 23 August 1775. This document represents an official proclamation on the side of the government of King George III, which condemned the “disorderly acts” committed by American Patriots against the British authority in the Colonies. The Proclamation lambasted the Patriots for “traitorously preparing, ordering and levying war against us”.

In order to suppress the perceived breach of the public peace, the Proclamation provided that all British officers in the Colonies were to make all efforts possible to “disclose and make known all traitorous conspiracies” that endangered the authority and dignity of the King of Great Britain in American Colonies. The full information on such “conspiracies” was to be transmitted to the highest officers of the realm, including the principal secretaries of royal government.