Chesapeake Society - Maryland and Virginia - Essay Example

The paper "Chesapeake Society - Maryland and Virginia" is an outstanding example of an essay on history.  Chesapeake society refers to colonizers from England who moved to North America to colonize the newly discovered America. The Society covered the states of Maryland and Virginia whose inhabitants were farmers. In their need for labor, planters sought immigrants who had moved to America in search of better livelihoods. Their desire for better livelihoods made the immigrants work for their masters for an agreed period usually between four and seven years. The farmers considered immigrants their personal property and their descendants were sold like any other property. Chesapeake society believed in servants and not slaves.

The life of indentured servants was very harsh, and they endured difficult working conditions with no pay until the period end, however, they were not slaves. Laws governing the stay of servants were set and followed to the later. When servants broke these laws, punishment involved working for more years. Some laws applied solely to women servants if they had children with their masters; they were made to work for two more years after the expiry of their masters’ term.
The servants were mainly immigrants who came looking for a better life requiring them to work for possession after a given period. Upon expiry of the agreed period, servants were given their freedom package. This was as per the contract and included land, livestock and other necessities for settlement in the new world. Many of the servants had undergone much suffering and would just be satisfied to earn their freedom while others rose to become part of the leadership. When the cost of servants and demand for labor rose, landowners were threatened by the demand for the freedom package and turned to African slaves because of their number and cheap services. Read More