First off I'd like to start with saying how much I enjoyed this chapter so far out of all the other chapters I have read in this text by Daniels. I enjoyed learning the history of the Europeans and their short descriptive journey, which included their trials and tribulations.
It was surprising to me that German immigrants had to indenture themselves to pay their passage. I had only been aware of Black slaves who were identured, so it was very surprising to read that many other races including Europeans had gone through the same hardships. It shows how much history books focus more on the African race when informing the readers in other textbooks about slavery and the slave trade because that's all I can remember from my past history courses. Some lucky Germans had family waiting for them to pay their fares, others had their own money to pay afterwards, but many unlucky Germans had to indenture themselves for four years; these Germans were called "redemptionist." It was sad to read that many times a husband had to pay/work for his wife if she deceased on the trip to America and indenture himself for more years to pay of her debt as well. Also, children had to pay for their parents as well if they had deceased on the way to America. This was very sad to me and surprising that they had made these poor people pay, while still many were taking in the deaths and had hardly any time to grief.
On pg.72 there was a contract that was written out and used for indentured people. I found it to be very interesting to read, especially the use of language. I wonder if this contract was used over and over and changed specifically only in the brackets for each individual person. I would think so, but I am not sure.
I also found it very interesting to read that it was illegal for Blacks to own Whites. It made me wonder what would the world be today if both Whites and Blacks had owned each other for slavery, how would it have been different today on the terms of racism? Would it still exist?
It had come to my attention that the book had quotes a passage from a slave owner maybe that had insisted than slavery was a positive aspect for German migrators because it helped them learn the language, customs, crafts, and local conditions of the land. I'm not sure whether this could have actually been a positive thing for these people because it later on stated that later this was not the case, so there could have been cracks and faults in this way of thinking.
In 1746 I read that immigrants on board the Seaflower had resorted to Cannabalism to stay alive, while 46 passengers died. This was heartbreaking to read that many had seen a brighter future in America, but little did they know they would either die or be faced to eat another human just to survive. These people were not brought to America to be slaves, rather they had made the trip but had to be indentured to pay for their transportation.
After reading all of chapter 4 it made me wonder, would you say that each race and one time was exploited in America in some way or another? Each specific race in chapter four had faced hardships either on their way to or in America.
"The question of survival - and of who or what survives - is a matter to which we shall return more than once. Although the notion of a metling pot is a myth, some groups did in fact, melt, and all groups, even those who persisted the longest, changed over time through contract with the new environment and new peoples." (Daniels, 95) This was my favorite quote in the chapter, which in itself is self explanitory and very deep.
Lastly, I was surprised to read that the Spanish had been the first Europeans yo traverse much of the United States starting from the 1500s, but were not seen in the Census of the 1700s.
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