wifery, sewing, knitting, spinning, reading in the Bible, and writing a legible hand."

The South had an increasing number of negro slaves to take the place of white laborers. Negroes were not so profitable at the North, but advertisements of negroes for sale, and of re

RUN away from his Master Philip Caverly, of

Colchester, in Connecticut, in New England, on the 24th of April laft, a Negro Man named Japhet, aged about 21 Years, of a tall Stature, peaks good English, and pretends to be free; has the Tors of one Foot froze off, and part of the other; had on when he went away, a great Coat of a brown Colour, a clofe bodied Coat of the fame Colour, Tow-cloth Breeches, and grey Stockings. Whoever takes up faid Runaway, and conveys him to his Maßer shall haveTwenPounds Reward, Old Tenor, and all reasonable Charges, paid by Philip Caverly.

ADVERTISEMENT IN THE WEEKLY New York POST-BOY, DECEMBER 22, 1746 wards for capturing runaway slaves, were often published in both northern and southern newspapers.

Indentured servants.-The most common form of labor in all the early colonies was that of the indentured servant. When both seller and buyer wanted a copy of the same deed or contract, an indenture was made. "Indenture " is derived from the Latin word for tooth (dens, dentis, which appears in the English word "dentist ") and means that the two copies of the same document were notched like teeth so that the points in one would fit into the notches in the other. Many poor people in order to pay their passage from Europe to America executed an indenture for the sale of their labor, usually for a term of from four to seven years. The buyer and the seller of this service each kept a copy of this indenture, and the seller came to be known as an "indentured " or " indented " servant. The cost of such a servant's time for the period specified in the indenture was from $50 to $120, but it must be remembered that nearly all prices were far lower then than now.

A

ADVERTISEMENTS.

Servant Boys Time for 4 Years to be difpofed of. He is about 16 Years of Age, and can keep Accompts, Enquire at the Blue Ball in Union Street, and know fur

ther.

AN ADVERTISEMENT OF 1723, AND THE "BLUE BALL" REFERRED TO

The above advertisement is from the New England Courant, a Boston newspaper, February 11, 1723. At the right is an accurate picture of the "Blue Ball" mentioned in the advertisement. This ball painted blue was the business sign of Benjamin Franklin's father. Houses and shops were not then given street numbers as they are now, and a place of business was known by the sign in front.

This kind of immigration was very large and important in the development of the country. Virginia often received annually as many as 1500 indentured servants. Agents who were promised $7 a

head for every immigrant went through the Rhine district in Germany and told the peasants that the boughs of trees near the home of the Pennsylvania farmer bent beneath the weight of chickens roosting on them, that more hogs than could be eaten fattened on acorns and Indian corn, that a nobleman in Germany could not have as much meat on his table in a week as a Pennsylvania farmer in a day, that everybody ate butter on his good white bread and thought nothing of having four eggs and as much ham as he wanted for breakfast. Thousands of Germans came and sent back word that this seeming fairy tale was true, and other thousands followed them. An Englishman wrote that a poor servant after the expiration of his indenture could get land, raise his own food, and have his own forest furnish a better fire than the nobility of England enjoyed. England, Ireland, and Scotland sent over frequent shiploads of indentured servants. When such ships arrived, those in need of help went on board and made their selection.

There were two classes of indentured servants, those who came of their own free will and those convicts who were transported by the British government. Probably as many as 40,000 convicts, some of whom were only guilty of falling in debt, were sent to the English colonies in the first three quarters of the eighteenth century. When an Englishman argued that America would prove a reforming melting pot, Benjamin Franklin is said to have suggested sending American rattlesnakes to England to make them harmless. Pennsylvania ordered a tax of five pounds on every convict brought into the colony and required bond to be given for his good behavior.

Numbers of those now living in the United States are descended from these indentured servants. Those who came of their own free will sold their labor as honorably as any employees to-day.

Life of the indentured servant. The treatment of indentured servants varied with the part of the country, the ability of the servant, and the character of the master. Their life was hardest where they worked with the negro slave, and fewer of them went to the South after the first part of the eighteenth century.

Indentured servants were of the most varied kinds,—common laborers, tailors, blacksmiths, farmers, carpenters, school teachers, and doctors. Sometimes the master allowed the servant to practice his trade anywhere in the colony. An indentured dancing teacher had classes in various towns but gave his master all the money that he earned. An indentured school teacher refused to teach children in homes where he was not treated as a gentleman.

The life of common indentured laborers was often hard. There were frequent advertisements in the newspapers offering rewards for runaway servants. The master could for slight offenses prolong the time of service. A boy who was shipped from England to keep him from inheriting an estate had his term of service so often lengthened for trying to escape that he was a grown man and not recognizable as the heir when he

returned to England. IR from James Anderson Minister of the Gospel in DentRUN away the 27th of August laft,

A girl who had been beaten ran away, was caught and brought into court to have the term of her servitude extended. Fortunately, the results of the beating were so plain that the court ordered her to be given to a new master who should

gal, in the County of Lancaster in Penfilvania, a Servant Man named Hugh Wier, aged about 30 Years of a middle Stature and fresh Complexion, fandy Beard, and fhort dark brown Hair, he went off very bear in Cloathing, and is fuppofed to have got himself drefs'd in Indian Habit, (He having been used among Indians, when he run away from other Masters before) He is by Trade a Flax-dreffer, Spinfter and Woolcomber, and it is fuppofed he can Weave, He alfo does most fort of Women Work, fuch as washing of Cloaths or Dishes, milking of Cows, and other Kitchen Work, and ufually changes his Name, Whoever takes up faid Servant Provinces and let his Mafter know of it, by Poft or otherand fecures him either in this or any of the neighbouring ways, fo as his faid Master may have him again, shall have Three Pounds as a Reward, and all reasonable Charges paid by me, James Anderfon ADVERTISEMENT IN THE AMERICAN WEEKLY MERCURY, PHILADELPHIA, DECEMBER 14, 1733

pay to her former owner the five hundred pounds of tobacco charged for her passage. The bystanders pitied her so much that they collected six hundred pounds of tobacco on the spot, bought her freedom, and gave her the extra one hundred pounds for capital.

Sometimes the indentured servant was treated like a member of the family. There were cases where a worthy indentured young man married the master's daughter and where girls after their term of service became the wives of prominent men. It was common for men after the expiration of the indenture to getland of their own and to succeed in a way that would have been impossible in the old country.

Amusements. The greatest amusement for the largest number of boys and men was found in hunting, trapping, and watching the habits of wild animals. Boys set snares for partridge, quail, and rabbits and eagerly awaited the morrow's visit to their snares. Hunting was fairyland to boys, and they were given guns very early. They learned to shoot squirrels, rabbits, quail, pigeons, and wild ducks, and looked forward to the time when they might hope to kill a deer, a wolf, or a bear.

Girls had no sport to take the place of hunting, but they could search for wild berries, go to spinning bees, quilting and

The barn is lighted by old-fashioned lanterns, containing tallow candles. Have you ever seen such a lantern? The scene at the left is a reminder of the old custom of kissing the girl who husked a red ear.

sewing parties, and share the excitement of a corn husking with the boys. Dancing was frowned on in New England, but it was one of the chief amusements of Virginia girls.

The colonists liked to go to church to hear the news as well as to listen to the sermon. They looked forward to going to church with more pleasure than we anticipate a picture show.

Whenever a barn or a house was built, the neighbors came and helped raise the timbers. After these were in place, all had a good social time with plenty to eat and drink. The shearing of sheep and the killing of hogs were events in country life.

The colonists found great enjoyment in their work, which, unlike that in modern factories, changed from season to season and often presented new problems each day for both men and women on the farm (see p. 147, for example).

Travel by land. Travel, which has become a modern amusement, was then a bugbear. There were few roads passable for