Read about Indentured Servitude

Before the increased use of slaves (beginning in 1617 and increasing after decreased slave rights in the 1640s), indentured servants provided cheap labor for land owner in the American colonies.  The first recorded Indentured servant was in 1609 in Jamestown.  Despite harsh treatment during their term (sometimes over 7 years), people enrolled to escape the poverty caused by The Thirty Years war.