My Dad was a northerner, son of immigrants from Sicily. My Mom was a southerner from Roanoke Island, NC and a pre-revolutionary family that become very famous in the Coast Guard. I saw blacks in NC treated much better and with more respect than I ever saw when living in NJ.
I am a Virginian though I have great disgust for many citizens of that once great state. For the rest of the world, I am an American and proud of it.
Most of my ancestors came to the colony from
England, Ireland, and Scotland as indentured servants.
A few were French Huguenots, religious immigrants.
Their debt could have been incurred by various means.
The British had debtor’s prisons, where some who had no money were jailed.
They were released more or less as a way to get rid of them.
The wealthy land owners in the colonies would “buy” their debt from the authorities.
Others came by agreement to come here and work in lieu of ship fare.
The wealthy landowners had rice and indigo plantations that needed labor.
Most worked more or less as “slaves”, and after a period of time
(varied from 5-10 years), eventually worked off their debt and were free men.
The Cotton plantations came later, and the labor required for that endeavor
caused a whole different set of problems.
Big Dan Teague (O Brother Where Art Thou):
“It’s all about the MONEY, boys.