On The Formation And Characteristics Of The White Indentured Servants Of British America(1607-1775)

White indentured servants is a special immigrant group in colonial America which is formed in specific historical conditions. It is an important part of early immigrations in colonial America. This paper attempts to analyze and study the immigrant groups in this particular definition, appearance, development, formation, group characteristics and the impact on the North American colonies, in order to make reference and complement for the research of early America. This article is divided into three parts: introduction, body and conclusion. The body includes three parts:The introduction mainly introduces the foundation of topic's chosen, and presents research situations at home and abroad, research methods and the purpose of this paper. The paper is composed of three parts:Firstly, the author focuses on the concept of white indentured servants, analyzes the characteristics of the immigrants who are not slaves in five aspects: evolution of the institution of white indentured servants, background of the white indentured servants and their stratum, their legal standing and social status in the North America colonies.Secondly, the author mainly expounds the reasons of the white indentured immigration with "push and pull" theory; then analyzes the course of the rise and fall of the white indentured migration. The plantation expansion led to the rise of white indentured migration. The Black slaves'coming led to the fall of the white indentured migration, moreover, new characteristics appeared.Thirdly, the author takes the white indentured servants as an example to analyze the characteristics of the immigrant groups from their age, gender, immigration place, seasons and so on .Their ages were between 15 and 25; The gender's proportion of male and female indentured servants were imbalance, they were mainly male. The time that they immigrated was also different.Finally, the author concludes that white indentured servants are different from the slaves, and analyzes their contribution to the American nation and the development of the North America.