The Infortunate: The Voyage and Adventures of William Moraley, an Indentured Servant

           

During the early eighteenth century, economic problems, unemployment, and debt reduced many English citizens to poverty. The risks of starvation and death pushed poor tradesmen and laborers to sign indentures and board ships for temporary servitude in North America. For about four to seven years, indentured servants could expect food and shelter; two things that were becoming increasingly difficult to retain in England. Survival was the primary goal of these desperate people, whose conditions at home could not have been worse. They packed themselves onto crowded ships with meager food rations for the long journey to the colonies; where upon arrival, they would be sold like livestock. Getting to America was only the beginning of the many difficulties indentured servants would face. The labor was harsh with few pay-offs. Some did not survive their indentures. In The Infortunate, indentured servant William Moraley describes that, in his experiences, (like those of many others) he was "reduced to the most deplorable Circumstances" (113) before and after his indenture. Many of those who came to the colonies to escape starvation in England, and to better their conditions did so, but loftier goals of obtaining land after indentures and becoming somewhat prosperous evaded most and were accomplished by few. Work was hard to find for many servants after serving their indentures, and masters rarely helped them get back onto their feet and into the real world.  Despite the opportunities that seemed attractive to poor English laborers, most who traveled to North America as indentured servants achieved only moderate financial success, remained poor and lived off of the charity of others, or returned to their native countries.

            For most, signing an indenture and leaving one's home and family was a last resort. Like William Moraley, many were influenced by rough circumstances. "I might have expected a better fate than to be forc'd to leave my Native Country; But adverse Fortunes is become familiar to me, by a series of Misfortunes. . ." (50, 52 ). Educated and the apprentice of a lawyer, Moraley had many opportunities to advance himself, but he claims, "I neglected to improve my Talents, always preferring the present time to the future" (43). Squandered opportunities left Moraley headed towards a similar fate as poor and unskilled tradesmen. Following his father's footsteps, he trained to became a watchmaker; a highly specialized trade not useful to most people. Moraley had hoped to inherit his fortune rather than work for it, which proved disappointing when his father died. "He made a will not answering my Expectations. . . The Money soon being spent, and not readily falling into Business, I was reduc'd to Poverty" (48). Off to London with little money and looking for employment, William Moraley experienced the rising prices and scarcity of work most English citizens felt during the early eighteenth century.  Uncertain and contemplating leaving England, Moraley, "dress'd at that Time in a very odd Manner. . . with an unshaven Beard, a torn Shirt, that had not been washed for above a Month; Bad Shoes; and stockings all full of Holes" (50) was approached by a man that convinced him to become an indentured servant. Moraley's attitude towards his situation echoed those of many: "a person like me, oppress'd by Dame Fortune, need not care where he goes" (50). Almost anything would be better than his current situation. The idea of working for a few years and being provided food, clothes, and shelter was attractive to hungry, poverty-stricken Englishmen with no hope for the future. Going to North America also meant leaving one's debts, bad reputation, and possibly bad luck behind. Unfortunately, most left the difficulties of England to find new ones awaiting them in the colonies.

Indentured servants from England arrived in North America by ship. The passage was long and arduous; most ships made many stops along the English coast to pick up more indentured servants and supplies. For Moraley, the journey to Pennsylvania was uneventful. Food rations varied from meat to biscuits, and water was scarce. "the Sun was intensely hot, which so partch'd our Bodies, having but a scanty Allowance of Water. . . We attempted to drink the Salt Water, but it increased our Thirst" (60). After arriving in Philadelphia, Moraley sold his belongings to satisfy his appetite of the things he missed during the long voyage. He writes that he "had the Liberty of Visiting the Town, where I sold my Red Coat for a Quart of Rum, my Tie Wig for Sixpence, with which I bought a Three-penny Loaf, and a Quart of Cider" (64). Because Moraley was not of a useful trade like carpenters, blacksmiths, or bricklayers, he says "I saw all my Companions sold off before me; my turn came last, when I was sold for eleven pounds, to one Mr. Isaac Pearson" (64). The journey to North America was long and difficult; but years ahead of "voluntary slavery" would bring further difficulties and challenges to indentured servants.

To their masters, indentured servants were an investment. The labor of an indentured servant would eventually repay the masters the initial cost of buying a one. To make the most of their investment, masters tried to get the most work out of their servants as possible. Moraley "repaired clocks and watches, sweated over a smith's forge, herded livestock, toiled in an iron foundry and performed other miscellaneous jobs" (10). Indentured servants on the other hand, viewed their situation as a temporary means to avoid starvation, and to possibly gain land, money, or employment after servitude. William Moraley quickly became restless with working as an indentured servant and wrote that "being desirous to settle at Philadelphia during the rest of my Servitude, I declared to him, I would stay no longer. . . I attempted an Escape, but was taken, and put into Prison" (82). Moraley had it much easier than most servants, for others who attempted escape had time added on to their indentures; Moraley's was reduced by two years. Some servants were abused by their masters, while Moraley "continued with my Master at Burlington in perfect Concord" (87). While most experiences of indentured servants varied depending on the behavior of their masters and their trade, further struggles awaited servants after their indentures through.

Moraley was bought wearing rags and without having slept in a bed for fifteen weeks. He worked for three years, got new clothes, food, and a place to sleep. Upon his dismissal, Moraley states his master "accouter'd me in an indifferent Manner, and gave me my Discharge, to find a new Way of Living" (111). Rather than getting land, as did servants of decades earlier, Moraley received inexpensive clothing and was sent on his way, just as he had come. Despite not having plans for the future, Moraley explains, " 'Tis impossible to express the Satisfaction I found at being releas'd from the precarious Humour and Despondence of my Master" (110). Like many servants that survived their indentures, Moraley found himself a wandering rogue, looking for work and depending on the charity of others. He claims, "I was reduc'd to such Extremity, that I looked like the Picture of bad Luck, and so thin, that you might have seen my Ribs through my Skin" (111). With no hopes of a future in North America, and to avoid poverty and starvation again, Moraley set his "Wits to Work how to get home" (110).

For those that came to North America as indentured servants, the main goal was survival and obtaining the basic needs necessary to do so. The improvement of living conditions was realized by those who were once on the brink of starvation and death in England. Living with a master for years of servitude guaranteed them food, shelter and clothing. Harsh working conditions for indentured servants presented them with a similar poverty in a new setting. Those who expected land or money upon their discharge were often disappointed with much less, and were unable to create new lives for themselves. Oftentimes, they left servitude just as they came; ragged, desperate, and broke.

The success or hardships of an indentured servant depended on their line of work and actions of their masters. If William Moraley had been a skilled carpenter, he may have had an easier time securing work after his servitude. Because most servants did not get any help with re-entering society as a free people, many of them were reduced to wandering the country and living on the charity of others. Most people's fortunes did not substantially improve, and did not advance themselves after being discharged. Becoming an indentured servant did not help many accomplish what they set out for. They got jobs, food, and a place to sleep; however, the servants' dependence on their masters eventually led to difficulties after being dismissed, as former servants could not find ways of providing these needs for themselves on their own.

Desperate laborers in eighteenth century England had few alternatives but to leave their native country in hopes of finding better living conditions. The threats of starvation and death made voluntary slavery seem attractive, as many signed a few years of their lives away for food, shelter, and a chance to work. For William Moraley, "his motivation to sign and indenture to Pennsylvania grew more out of a desperation about his condition in England than out of a positive vision about his chances in America" (21). They came by crowded ships with little food or comfort; the rough journey foreshadowing future difficulties. The labor was harsh, and the conditions were only moderately better than those in England. Once indentures were completed, servants found themselves searching for work; reduced to poverty once again. While many achieved subsistence and survival, those who set out to build a future in America, found themselves as poor as they came. William Moraley's accounts may as well tell the stories of many indentured servants; or "the lives of thousands of migrants who achieved, at best, modest material success, became a part of the itinerant poor, or eventually returned to their native country" (20 ).

 

Moraley, William. The Infortunate. Edited by Susan E. Klepp and Billy G. Smith.

University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992.

Originally Published 1743.