Time to talk about slavery
I figured that at some point in the exploration of the histories of our family I'd run into slavery. Some of the people on both sides of the family who immigrated here came as indentured servants, people who agreed to work for a richer immigrant in exchange for the money to pay for their passage to America. Their term of servitude was limited, and when their time was up, they were free to go about their lives and make their way as best they could. Most of our ancestors completed their terms and went on to become land owners and farmers, with some taking up trades to earn enough money to provide a home and a decent living for their families. In some of the colonies, the richer immigrant benefitted from more than the labor of the servants they brought. By bringing people with them they would receive a headright benefit -- grants of land for every person they brought over. Servants might bargain with their masters to pay for their relatives back in Great Britain to come to America,