by the 17th century virginia's tobacco plantations were thriving but attracting new laborers was becoming difficult virginia's reputation had spread the colony had little food rampant disease and continuous conflicts with the indians potential settlers from england were hesitant to come to fill jobs plantation owners offered to pay a workers passage to America in exchange for five to seven years of labor endangered servitude you know throughout the colonial period as the principal way of populating the colonies you get your benefit upfront which is your passage over and then you have to pay it off over first it's seven years then as the tobacco industry becomes more productive it goes down to five and even four years like slaves indentured servants could be bought or sold could not marry without the permission of their owner and could be beaten for the slightest disobedience but if they survive their term of indenture they could eventually be freed and earn freedom dues a payment from their masters in either land or money only landowners could vote or serve in the local government you have to work as a servant for a certain number of years and then at the end of that people certainly came expecting to get 50 acres and it's very hard to know how many people actually did get a land of their own at the end of that throughout the 17th century nearly two-thirds of the thousands of English settlers coming to America came as indentured servants all hope for a better life few found one the severe lifestyle often led to illness injury and early death a reality that deterred the English from coming and pushed plantation owners to look to Africa for labour [Music]