2006-12-19 14:04:27 · 6 answers · asked by nikki♥ 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Get off the boat.
2006-12-19 14:08:18 · answer #1 · answered by Nicole B 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they were not indentured servants (many were), they'd find temporary housing at an inn or with relatives who had come before. If there was no housing, they'd usually move in with someone (and pay them) long enough to get their bearings and find a piece of land they could build on.
Next step would be filing on the land at the town hall so no one was trying to claim some already owned. Then they'd settle down to clearing the land, planting, and building.
If you were an indentured servant, the options were less available. In that case you'd have some housing provided while your contract was sold to some settler that had already arrived. Standard time of the indenture was seven years. When that seven years was up, you could start building your own life.
One of my ancestors was an indentured servant. He worked for seven years to pay off his passage, getting married during the process. After ending that indenture, he entered into another one (another seven years) to earn some land. When he died about twelve years later, he left clothing, looms, some land, and some livestock to his family. His will still survives and it's all in there along with the pertinent town records concerning his life in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
By the way, the first blacks to arrive from Africa were treated as indentured servants, not slaves. Like those coming from Europe, they were freed after seven years.
2006-12-19 15:32:55 · answer #2 · answered by loryntoo 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
With foresight they would have returned to the Old World
2006-12-19 14:13:55 · answer #3 · answered by eastglam 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Kill off the locals!
2006-12-19 14:20:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have a leak
2006-12-19 17:59:17 · answer #5 · answered by brainstorm 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Go for tacos.
2006-12-19 14:11:56 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋