Shen Yuan Chiu

History 7A

Gottlieb Mittelberger,The Passage of Indentured Servants

Gottlieb Mittelberger traveled to Pennsylvania from Germany in 1750. On the ship he
boarded there were many poor immigrants who would become indentured servants when they
arrived in Philadelphia. During the voyage People suffered a lot of illnesses such as fever,
scurvy, dysentery, boils, and headache, etc because of the severe and dirty surroundings.
Therefore, many people unfortunately died in this awful situation. When they arrived in
Philadelphia, most of them could not leave the vessel unless they paid for their passage or they
were purchased by landowners or some people who needed labors. Therefore, younger and
stronger people would be purchased more easily than those who were elder or sick. Those who
didnt be purchased by landowners frequently died because they didnt get the medical treatment
in time.
Indentured servants contracts vary depending on their ages and health status. Younger
and stronger indentured servants can sign a shorter-year contract, but older and weaker
indentured servants have to sign a longer term contract. Indentured servant could also sign a
short term contract when they worked in a poor quality place such as the area of West Indies;
people have to sign a longer term contract while they work in a warm and comfortable place
such as Carolina and Virginia. Basically, the contract year was around four to seven years. When
indentured servants finished the contract, they could become free and get a small acre of land to
plant something such as tobacco.
However, the situation of black people from African who were enslaved by Europeans
and sold to the Americas was more and more severe than indentured servants who were from
England or Germany. When they were on the ship, they were crammed into every space in less

Shen Yuan Chiu

History 7A

than eighteen inches between the shelves. Besides, they were chained together. Many enslaved
black people died of fever and dehydration due to lack of drinking water and harsh environment.
All of them were involuntary, and they had to work for all their lives. They didnt have any
opportunity to be free. If they tried to run away from the controls of masters, they would be
killed by the masters by whips or rifles. Besides, the children of black people who were enslaved
would be enslaved people also no matter their fathers were white or black.
In the early eighteen century, as the increase of demand of crops such as cotton and
tobacco, the demand of labors increases rapidly. In order to solve the problem of workforce
shortage, the labor form of indentured servant developed. However, the landowners wanted to
gain the maximum benefit, so they decided to get enslaved black people from Africa because
they were effective, and the most important of all, they didnt have any contract, which means
they had to work for their whole lives. Because of the reasons above, there were more than sixty
percent of black people in the Virginia.
This document was written by Gottlieb Mittelberger when he traveled to Pennsylvania.
He recorded the severe situations he faced on the vessel, the things and people he met in
Pennsylvania and Philadelphia because he tried to let people more realize the real situation what
indentured servants met. I learned that some indentured servants were deceived and suffered a lot
of unfair treatment by unscrupulous landowners, others finally became free men and increasingly
improved their quality of lives.

Citation:
1. http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/40-mit.html
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJJzLgtontY

Shen Yuan Chiu

History 7A

3. American History
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDQSUvP9oxw
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servant