The other institution that had long been the source of both labor supply and immigration to America was the system of indentured servitude. Tens of thousands had come to the New World in this way, and though it might have offered them opportunity to escape from poverty in Europe, their lot as servants was seldom a happy one. The beginning of the Revolution reduced the arrival of such servants to a trickle, but with the return of peace all available ships from England, Ireland, Scotland, and the Rhineland could not carry the masses who once again sought to sell their services. The need for such workers in the fast- growing United States offset all efforts of the proponents of free labor, and very few people, except some German societies perhaps, seem to have shown much concern over these people or the improvement of their lot. In New York, an effort was made to get groups of citizens to liberate an entire shipload of white servants by paying their passage, taking in return a small deduction from their future wages. It was argued that although white immigration was necessary, the traffic in white people was contrary to the idea of liberty and to the feelings of many citizens. But the only laws passed during the 1780s were simply meant to improve the status and treatment of indentured servants, rather than to change it, and the system itself continued for many decades.
Though not exactly in bondage, the female half of the white population was also very much on the political sideline. The relative scarcity of women in colonial America had enabled them to improve their legal status, especially in the matter of inheritance, and several competent females had done very well indeed managing farms and other businesses. But only a few voices had as yet begun to protest women’s inferior status – the most notable was the charming, irrepressible Abigail Adams, John’s wife, whose perception and caustic wit were fully on par with her husband’s. Mrs. Adams had boldly informed him that women would not wait forever to claim their rightful share of the Declaration’s promise. But as yet, the movement for equality of the sexes was little more than an insignificant cloud on the horizon.