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Summary and Objective
Students will understand the practice of placing children in indentured servitude in eighteenth century America. By examining indenture contracts they will gather historic information and will form hypotheses about the rights and responsibilities of these children.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Students will have had previous instruction in the practice of indentured servitude. They will have already discussed the fact that one half to two
thirds of all white Europeans arriving in the English colonies were indentured servants. They will now learn about the practice of putting colonial boys and girls into indenture.
Step 2.
Working in pairs the students will be responsible for selecting and reading two of the four indenture contracts involving children. The pairs will be assigned different readings to insure that all of the contracts are covered.
Step 3.
Using a Venn diagram or another appropriate graphic oraganizer, the students will compare and contrast the lives of the children named in the
contracts. The students will share their data with the class.
Step 4.
Under the guidance of the teacher, the students will discuss and formulate hypotheses about the reasons that some children
were placed in servitude. They will also discuss the advantages and drawbacks of this practice.
Step 5.
Using their research findings, they will pretend they are children who have been placed in servitude. They will write a letter to a friend to
describe their lives in servitude.
Step 6.
Extension: students will read primary documents about slavery and compare and contrast chattel slavery with indentured servitude.
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