Life in the New World
My name is Josh and I am an indentured servant going to the New World. I am twenty-three and this is my very first time leaving England. My family is very poor, but my family wanted me to have a new life so they got a ticket for me to the New World. My family paid all their traded almost anything that they had for me and my two brothers to get on this ship. I am very nervous for my trip to the New World because I may be treated like a slave. My hopes are that soon my family will also come to the New World and that I will be able to learn how to read and write. The fears I have are the whippings from my master when I do something wrong or when I disobey. I will only bring my empty yet large sack to my trip because that is probably the only thing I need to bring. I do not have any tools to work for my master. Will we live 1239 people on board this ship with just enough food for 6 months? Will we sink? All sorts of stuff came to my mind. I was surrounded by rich people talking about this mysterious plant called tobacco. I have only heard that tobacco gives you money, lots of money. But the only thing I was worrying about was if I was going to survive. Then the boat arrived. I got on the boat before anybody else.
A month has past since the departure I am using messenger birds to deliver my mail to my family. The place I sleep is on the bottom of the ship where some water leaks. I am very homesick and seasick. I have already puked twenty-four times. I get two fruits per day so I am quite pleased. In England I only get 1/2 a fruit per day. We went through three storms which killed thirty-two people, and forty-three people fell into the sea. I have found my two missing cousins on board, John and Jefferson. Jefferson is a fur-trader and he makes $25 US per hide. John is a cooper and he makes $150 US for one barrel he makes. Buck and Billy my two brothers were knocked out of the ship when we were attacked by an octopus. Two storms were very strong and almost tipped the ship over but luckily it didn't. One storm was so strong that it almost made me fly out of the ship from the bottom deck. My dream now is to be like John and Jefferson and live with them. My fear is the six years of serving for the master. John and Jefferson are nice enough to lend me some money. My hopes were fading because I haven't seen land in a month. But I trust in God that we will make it to the New World.
John, Jefferson and I were on the look out for land. Then we saw a tiny figure with green things all over it. We figured out that it was land so we told the 415 people who survived, they looked pleased. The people on the ship were celebrating because of the sight of the island all though we don't know if its somewhere we want to land, but we didn't care because we hadn't been on land for six months. My hope was that my master won't treat me like a slave. He is known as the richest man in the world. He makes $1500 US and his wife makes $1500 US too. We approached the harbor and people rushed out of the boat as fast as they can with their stuff. I just dragged my old sack from the boat. I just followed John and Jefferson because they seem nice to me and my job starts tomorrow and they didn't mind company. Sadly John and Jefferson's mom died on the trip here.
We found a nice cozy place and we started making our own house. I hired a carpenter to build me a wooden house. My house turned out to be very good. These strange Native Indians started to ask us are we here to attack them. We said no and we offered to trade. My business so far is good process because my master is nice. The challenges for me was that my family's wealth was so bad that they have died. So my life is quite miserable. I am feeling lucky that I am the only survivor. I see John and Jefferson on my day offs. My house is near my masters house so I don't live with my master but, since I live close to my master I won't be late for work. John and Jefferson lives four yards from me so I see John and Jefferson quite often. John started a shop with his friend Ross. The native Indians don't bother any of us and we don't bother them. I am trying to start my own business in six years. My masters name is Joseph. I carry his stuff and I follow him around everywhere so he doesn't need to do much work. The food here is delicious and it does not have anything like germs in it. I am very happy about my life in the new world so far.
The conditions of the colony is very good but when winter comes we might not have enough food. So we are planning to hunt for animals during the fall before winter. We are also cutting down on our food a bit. I would never want to go back to England because I would be killed or treated like a slave. My whole family died because of the government of England. If I stayed, I would be buried in a grave. My master is treated me very well John and Jefferson are also treating me well. Besides I would've never met John and Jefferson if I didn't go on this ship to the New World. The Natives are trading us things we don't have while we trade them what they don't have. We are trying to get advice from the Natives how to survive the winter just in case. I am willing to talk to them if we could have advice. I might die and be a sacrifice but after all what my colony has done for me I am willing to do it. Our colonists are comfortable that the Natives are living near us because we won't be lost in the forest and it is easier to trade with them.
After a few more months in the New World, the conditions have changed a little for the colony. The Natives and the Colony teamed up to attack the Spanish raiders who want to defeat both our colony and the Native's tribe. We won but we lost fifteen people. Ten of them were Natives. We used guns and bows to attack the raiders before they landed on shore so we were able to fend them off. Other than that we are fine. After that attack we never had anymore. The typical thing I do for my master is cook, carry his stuff, serve, and obey him. My success of occupation is good because my master is giving me more money and he also let me have more day offs. My master is letting me start my own business next week. He said he will help me on the weekends. The Natives and the Colonists are now very good friends. The Natives trade us more stuff and give us free stuff. My business is going be trading with the Natives. So that means that when we want to trade something I will bring it to my store and wait until a Native wants to trade. The Natives treat me like I'm their son or something. I usually see them when I go to trade with them. I am willing to stay here for the rest of my life. I have already set up my shop and I'm started to make things. But in eight more years we have to leave which is very depressing.
