Indentured servitude was part and parcel of the American experience, especially so for those so desiring to immigrate to America in the 17th, 18th as well as into the 19th centuries, of which, these people, accepted indentured servitude as the price of admission to come to America. Basically, indentured servitude signified that a person was under contract, typically for a term as short as four years, and as long as seven years, to pay back, for instance, their passage to America, along with their room and board, and they would thus have to perform labor for that person or entity that had paid for their passage to America. The indentured servant while performing their work in service to their sponsor, did not obtain a salary, but would, after completing their servitude, be free to become their own person.
As might be expected, indentured servitude was a hard life, especially in consideration, that the work that they were typically involved with, was the type of back breaking labor, that could debilitate a lesser person, and oftentimes, did. So too, most people that agreed to be an indentured servant did not have a real conception of how difficult or abusive being an indentured servant actually represented in the real world, and so, there was a great deal of resentment to being an indentured servant for such a lengthy period of time, in which, that servant was basically without human rights.
While, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution put an end to indentured servitude in America, we do so find, at the present time, that our higher educational system, appears to have taken on the aura of indentured servitude for many of those that have taken out student loans. We read at bestcolleges.com, that 43.5 million Americans have student loans, and of which, 3.4 million of those, have loans that total at least $100,000, with apparently nary a single one of those that have been stuck with these loans, actually being guaranteed that the debt that they have so incurred, will provide them with a corresponding degree or even a job, that would be commensurate with the monies so spent on that education.
So then, the work that students have performed in their studies, provides them with no assurance of adequate compensation, now or in the future, and of which, years have been spent incurring that student debt, without a guarantee that this investment of time and effort, will actually be worthwhile. In short, successful or not in their education and job placement, those that have student loans, are themselves fully responsible for the paying back of those loans, which essentially means that their income will be garnished, week in and week out, for probably, years upon years. In other words, student loan debt appears to be the price that many students must pay for the opportunity to get higher education in America, of which, the responsibility to obtain employment, is theirs alone; and, of which, these students have traded both time and money for what they think will be a better life, without knowing that they will get even a fair deal, for having done so.