Indentured servitude in colonial New England (1620–1760)

1. Mayflower passengers sign the Mayflower Compact

   Nov 11, 1620Labels: Mayflower Compact, Plymouth Colony

   • Britannica
   • Plimoth Patuxet

2. Plymouth ends communal farming “common course”

   Jan 1, 1623Labels: Plymouth Colony, William Bradford

   • Plimoth Patuxet
   • Bradford text

3. Massachusetts Bay begins large-scale Puritan migration

   Jan 1, 1630Labels: Massachusetts Bay, Puritan migration

   • Britannica
   • Mass gov

4. Pequot War produces captives forced into service

   Sep 21, 1637Labels: Pequot War, Pequot captives

   • Britannica
   • Oxford Acad

5. Massachusetts Body of Liberties outlines servant protections

   Dec 1, 1641Labels: Body of, Massachusetts

   • Mass gov
   • Boston 400

6. Massachusetts prints the 1648 law code

   Oct 27, 1648Labels: Massachusetts law, Printed laws

   • Mass gov
   • Huntington

7. Rhode Island limits length of servitude by statute

   May 18, 1652Labels: Rhode Island, Servitude statute

   • RI SOS
   • TIME

8. King Philip’s War begins amid land and power conflicts

   Jun 1, 1675Labels: King Philip's, Southern New

   • Britannica
   • Plimoth Patuxet

9. Massachusetts issues surrender terms tied to enslavement

   Jun 9, 1676Labels: Massachusetts, Surrender terms

   • PMC article
   • Britannica

10. War’s end leads to sales and forced service

    Sep 1, 1676Labels: Postwar sales, Native captives

    • Britannica
    • Oxford Acad

11. Boston bread riots highlight precarious urban labor lives

    May 1, 1713Labels: Boston riots, Food shortages

    • Boston riot
    • Britannica

12. Great Britain regulates convict transportation for colonial service

    Mar 21, 1718Labels: British Parliament, Convict transportation

    • US DOL
    • Piracy Act

13. The Great Awakening challenges household and workplace hierarchies

    Jan 1, 1740Labels: Great Awakening, Religious revival

    • Britannica
    • NEH

14. Knowles Riot shows resistance to forced service at sea

    Nov 17, 1747Labels: Knowles Riot, Impressment

    • Knowles Riot
    • Mass Hist

15. French and Indian War pressures labor and accelerates change

    Jan 1, 1760Labels: French and, Labor shortages

    • Britannica
    • US DOL