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Summary and Objective
Students will understand that the expectations and terms of servitude for apprentices and servants for life were very different. Using primary sources including contracts for indenture and bills of sale, students will gather relevant information to form their conclusions.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Divide students into mixed ability groups of three to four students. Distribute copies of the three documents regarding the indenture of apprentices.
Step 2.
Ask students to read each document together and to record the following information: the date of document, age and gender of apprentice, what the apprentice is required to do and prohibited from doing, any skills the master will teach that worker, and the terms of release.
Step 3.
Then distribute the two documents regarding the sale of slaves. Ask students to read each document and to record the same information (as available) as they did for the apprentices.
Step 4.
Next ask students to compare the information they gathered about the apprentices with that of the slaves. Have them discuss which documents had more detailed information and why this may have been so. Which workers were specifically taught skills and subsequently released? Finally have students discuss what they think the purpose of apprenticeship was versus that of slavery in New England.
Step 5.
Finally assign student to individually write a response to show what they learned in this lesson. A response could take the form of a 2-3 paragraph essay, a letter to the editor of a local paper, or a letter to one of the masters, apprentices, or slaves they read about today.
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