ABSTRACT
The control and use of bound labor had a long history in Europe. Serfdom, the most prevalent form of labor control for hundreds of years during the Middle Ages, had bound people to work for a lord. Serfs possessed legal rights, and the lord had legal obligations to those bound to him. Serfdom had all but disappeared in western Europe by the 17th century, replaced in large part by tenant farming. Tenants possessed more mobility and independence than serfs, as they could contract to work for a different landowner after their tenancy agreement expired. With the disappearance of serfdom, forms of servitude did not end but were increasingly the fate of the young. Parents commonly bound their children, male and female, to work for others, whether on the land, in domestic service, or as apprentices. Though bound to labor, the servants possessed legal protections and the masters had legal obligations, such as to clothe and feed their charges and to educate them into the “arts and mysteries” of their master’s profession. Both tenancy and servitude were carried to America and commonly practiced in all the colonies. Indentured servants often became farmers after their period of service expired. People became tenants in areas where there no longer was free land available, as in large portions of southern New England, or they did not possess the wherewithal to develop land, lacking capital to purchase tools, seed, and obtain subsistence until they could construct a self-supporting enterprise. Some colonials, particularly in New York, who possessed large tracts of land, paid individuals’ passage to America if they would work for them as tenants. Both servants and tenants were not considered independent people, since they did not own their own land and were dependent on either a master or a landlord. Dependency precluded them from voting and proscribed to them a second-class status in society.
