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Martha Salas
17 September 2015
Elizabeth Sprigs, Letter to get Father
In the document, We Unfortunate English People Suffer Here: An English Servant
Writes Home, a letter written by an indentured servant by the name of Elizabeth Sprigs, gives the
reader a little taste of how challenging the daily lives must have been for workers under harsh
masters in Maryland. The letter was addressed to her father, in which she asked for him to show
her some compassion and send her some much needed clothes. Sprigs begins the letter by
apologizing to her father for asking for clothes from him and not liking the life she had been
thrown into. Her letter also depicts the horrible conditions in which the servants were kept under
while working. They barely wore any clothes and slept on the bare ground with only a blanket as
covering.

Why did Eliazabeth become an indentured servant in Maryland?

Elizabeth Sprigs became an indentured servant in Maryland due to an opportunity that
arose that involved the exchange of trip across the Atlantic Ocean to the colonies for her role
as an indentured servant upon her arrival. She became a servant at a large household under
the instruction of a strict master in the state of Maryland.

What were the conditions that drove Elizabeth to be her father for aid?
Elizabeth could not bear the horrible conditions under which servants lived in at the
household she was made to work at. She explained to her father in her letter that the servants
were made to work day in and day out performing tasks that she described as in the Horses
drudgery. Comparatively, she might have meant that the indentured servants work was so
difficult at times, that it might have been expected of a horse to perform the task due to a
horses strength and ability to do things humans cannot do (like carrying around heavy loads,

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long lasting endurance, and being able to walk for miles). The servants also barely wore any
clothes while laboring. After all the challenging work done in the day, the servants were only
given a corn with salt to eat for a meal and made to sleep on the ground with only a blanket
to cover their bodies at night.