Not only was the demand for labor high in the colonies, but there was a potentially plentiful supply of labor in the British Isles and in London, in particular. A network formed on both sides of the Atlantic to connect those who needed labor with those who could supply it. The extent of this network cannot be determined with any accuracy, but in the years before the Revolution, there were at least thirty-eight colonial merchant firms dealing in British servants.
One part of this network was intelligence, later called register, offices. These were private, profit making employment agencies. They first appeared in the early seventeenth century and quickly gained a reputation for corruption. Both applicants for employment and for servants paid fees and the managers at the agencies made the connections.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 1,122 words. This
study guide contains 20,368 words (approx. 68 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our Voyagers to the West Access Pass.
