Indentured servitude commenced in the seventeenth century when many Europeans wanted to embark on a life in the colonies. At that time, European nations heavily promoted the possibility of prosperity in the colonies, encouraging families to move to America. However, individuals seeking out affluence in the colonies could not afford the trip to America, and if they could, most would not have enough money to purchase land and support their family. This financial burden did not hinder the European's longing to reach the colonies. And the solution to the financial problem was indentured servitude.
             The complications of seeking out a new life in the colonies is exemplified in "The Infortunate" an autobiography written by William Moraley that illustrates his voyage as a poor European seeking out prosperity in the colonies as an indentured servant. Although many Europeans hoped to thrive in the colonies, this was not attained without difficulty. Indentured servants and bound servants had a poor quality of life. Indentured servants, even after gaining their freedom usually worked low paying jobs and poor free workers faced similar hardships. Bound servants had an added difficulty in that they could be captured and recirculated into slavery all over again. There was no break to the servant-hood cycle.
             After the death of his father, a journeyman clockmaker, Moraley possessed scarce resources and was imprisoned for debt. The thirty-year-old Moraley bound himself for five years as a servant in the British North American colonies. As exemplified throughout Moraley's excursion, a European's trip to America would be paid for if they would then be a servant for a certain number of years (usually between four and fourteen). After they served their term, an indentured servant would be given clothes, land, and some money. For many poor, taking a ship to the plantations was a form of survival migration, necessitated by the dif...