NaniaPassey, 3A World History, DBQ Essay, February 21, 2012
DBQ Indentured Servitude
The main features, including causes and consequences, of the system of indentured servitude that developed as part of global economic changes in the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries was by wanting workers for sugar plantations, the conditions of the work if they were good or bad and all the servants coming from Asian Indian countries plus other countries.
Now the main features and causes and consequences of the system of indentured servitude that developed as part of global economic changes in the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries was by wanting indentured servants for their sugar plantations. In doc (2, 5, 7) the plantation owners wanted indentured servants that agreed to work for them, to increase the production rate of sugar. In doc 2 it states the necessity of the “importation of foreign labor” for the sugar production. With all the servants in the production process the sugar, the sugar will increase vigorously in numbers. The author thinks that if he informs his officials in a good way then he won’t get fired and then his country will look good in the indentured servitude process. The British can then have some pride about their country. This because if he has the indentured servants he can make a lot of money from producing the sugar for his money’s worth. He also wants his audience to believe the necessity that when immigrants come and work for him to increase the productivity of his sugar in theplantation and see that the conditions are good. He can again make the British then look better to his British officials that the plantations are going well. Also in doc. 5 and7 it portrays the indentured servants waiting for their assignments, to receive a job in the sugar plantations. Then, when the indentured servants receive their job the indentured servants would then work in the field and at times the supervisors willcheck on them to make sure things were ok in the fields. Now before the indentured servants could receive their job the servants had to agree on a set of standards to live by or they could not be released to the job. The owners made this agreement paper on their terms and believe that everyone should follow these standards or there would be consequences. This is what the owners will follow by and the indentured servants will have to follow by them too. (doc.7) These standards to live by all sound really great with all the care the servants get and some are not so great. But it would be nice to hear from an indentured servant who agreed with the standards and to see his perspective on how the standards were really followed or not.
Moreover, the main features and causes and consequences of the system of indentured servitude that developed as part of global economic changes in the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries was by the conditions of being an indentured servant if they were good or bad. In doc.(1,2,7,8) However in doc 1 it shows that the conditions of the immigrant labor is beginning to have better conditions than before and being an indentured servant is a choice and not forced on the immigrants to do the work. And also in doc 7 it also talks about the conditions to live by and what the immigrants will receive if they work a certain job. The indentured servant would receive a suitable dwelling, medicines, comforts, medical attendance and hospital accommodation and appropriate diet when sick would be provide free of cost. Those conditions sound very good and pleasing but in doc.8 the conditions for a man don’t seem as good as in the agreement statement in doc. 7. The indentured servant says that he doesn’t receive enough time off to eat his meals at the day time and the indentured servant has to work at 5:30 in the morning and finish at 8:30 p.m. daily. He even works on Sundays to 2 o’clock, the worker even states that his wages are not that good and if he takes a day of his work he will have to make up the day loss of work at the end of his expiration date of his indenture. This indentured servant has this tone of complaint and does not seem very pleased with his conditions and really dislikes his job as an indentured servant. This is because of his low pay, long hours, and unfairness of the owner of the place he works. He clearly states and wants to complain about the conditions that he is not happy with. He wants to be released from the harsh conditions he puts them as. But as in doc. 7 how the conditions were very good. It would be nice to see an additional document to support doc. 7 from an indentured servant stating and proving the man in doc. 8 is wrong about the conditions and that he was probably just lazy and all the work was too hard for him. So that if the conditions of being an indentured servant were really as good as the contract stated in the being of being an indentured servant. The conditions do seem very nice to live in but we need more evidence to support the theory on the good or bad conditions.
Thirdly, the main features and causes and consequences of the system of indentured servitude that developed as part of global economic changes in the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries was by all the indentured servants coming from Asian Indian countries and other countries as well. In doc.(2,3,4,5,6,9) But in doc. 3,4,6,9 show specifically in graphs and maps how the immigrants were mostly Asian Indians and they took up a lot the indentured servant space in the world. In doc. 3 it shows the migration of indentured servants coming to the Americas mostly and most of the migrations came from India and China. But it would be nice to see an additional document from an indentured servant who was traveling to America or other country telling the audience that what the author is portraying is in fact true with all the immigrants going to the Americas. The document is just a map and you never know if it is really true. But also in doc. 9 it shows the population in Mauritius is of indentured Asian Indian indentured servants at 70% of the population and Chinese only take up 9% of the population of Hawaii. The indentured servants take up a lot of the percent of the American continent than islands. Also in doc. 4 is shows the population of indentured servants in about the exact number (rounded) of servants in all the different countries like British Guinea or Peru and more. But instead of thepercentsof the population becoming Asian Indians, like in the charts shown in doc.9. And Mauritius has about 455,000 indentured servants while Hawaii has 34, 000 indentured servants, again the big difference in populations sent to different countries. The chart also shows other totals of indentured servants in other countries and cities. And in doc. 6 it also shows similar results on the number of indentured servants increasing as the years go by. I tis really does increase like crazy. But the people in the chart listed are comparing how former slaves and Asian Indians populations are increasing and different from one another in how they increase. The indentured servants did really explode in a rising increase in the 1800s into the early twentieth centuries.
In conclusion, the indentured servitude was a very population increasing factor and allowed for sugar production to increase tenfold. The indentured servitude had good conditions and rules to abide by and then some bad conditions that an indentured servant has complained for. The graphs, maps and charts portray the exact population growth and numbers of indentured servants coming from India to the Americas and to other countries as well. Also the indentured servants helped in the world’s sugar production and other sources of labor in the 1800s to the early twentieth century. We should thank the immigrants for helping out with the production rates and population growths in our world today.