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I was reading a bit over the weekend about how Great Britain was sending numerous convicts over here to the Colonies starting back in the early 1600's as this didn't cease until the Revolutionary War.
So does anyone know where these prison camps were? Were they the Indentured Servants? Were they working the tobacco and indigo fields in Virginia and the Carolina's before the advent of African slaves?
They weren't necessarily in camps. In fact, I don't know there ever were any at all. (I'm sure someone who knows more will correct me.)
They were assigned to designated individual masters or overlords for their personal use, but I'm unclear as to how that assignment was made. I assume it was because of family, business or government influence.
This is my understanding remembering my history: that under "Transport" or more formally, penal transportation, the convicts were assigned for a specific number of years to an individual, afterwhich they were freed and able to either remain in the colonies or return at their expense to Britian. The cost to come to America was a cost paid by the prisioner, the person he or she was assigned to, or the shipowner.
An aside to this is that at first, Va. and Md. had no death certificates. On a rare occassion someone restoring an ancient farrmhouse today may find human bones dumped by the house or in the basement with ancient trash - someone transported, an indentured servant or slave. The owners tended to just throw the body away with no record. Death certificates changed this.
They were indentured servants as described in newhandle's post. The greatest legend in this regard is the State of Georgia. The colony of Georgia was founded as a solution to overcrowding of British debtors prisons. Of course, emigration to the colony was completely voluntary. The planters and land owners agreed to take the persons on and after a period of time they were freed. The eventual end to this system in Georgia was the spread of slavery to replace what was essentially indentured servitude. Slavery was outlawed in Georgia until the 1750's. At that time the success of the South Carolina planters and the high death rate among European indentured servants in Georgias climate led to the adaptation of slavery. In a few short years, slavery had completely replaced indentured servitude on the South Carolina model.
Interesting. I can clearly remember being taught in school that Georgia was colonized with numbers of convicted persons.
I was taught that, too. And after the Revolution, when they couldn't ship their convicts to Georgia, well what do you know--Australia was pretty handy!
According to this article that appears to have been published in 1896, as many as 50,000 prisoners were transported to the colonies during the period in question. It would also appear that they were sent to all of the colonies not just Georgia.
Indentenured servents and convict labor was going on until the revolution. When the British could not send their excess population here, the convict colony of Australia was founded instead as a new location. The system was established with the expectation of sending away minor criminals and there was no other provision for them.
One of my favorite questions is what event in American history had the greatest effect on the history of Australia?
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