Midnight Rider

Hannah’s position as an indentured servant reflects a widespread labor system that bound approximately half of all those who lived in colonial America. Under this arrangement, people worked for a fixed period—typically four to seven years—to repay the cost of their passage to the Americas (or, in Hannah’s case, to provide for their living costs after becoming orphaned). The novel accurately portrays the fact that guardians could legally bind minors without their consent, as Aunt Phoebe does when she signs Hannah’s seven-year contract with the Gages in exchange for £50. Historical records show that such business transactions were common and were often conducted with little regard for the servant’s wishes.

The text reveals both the protections and vulnerabilities inherent in indentured servitude. While Hannah receives “sufficient meat, drink, clothing, lodging” (31), as her contract guarantees, she also faces the constant threat of punishment, extended service, or sale to someone else. Hannah’s fear of the skeleton in the gibbet and of Miss Lydia’s threats of flogging exemplifies the fact that indentured servants possessed few legal rights, and many of the scenes that Harlow crafts are designed to demonstrate the complex loyalties and moral dilemmas that arise from the injustices of indentured servitude. As Hannah follows her patriotic passions and engages in calculated espionage against the British, her activities place her in an impossible position; although she is legally bound to serve General Gage faithfully, her conscience compels her to betray his plans. When she declares, “No one has the right to give me to anyone. I don’t belong to anyone but myself” (235), she articulates the fundamental contradiction between indentured servitude and the emerging American ideal of individual liberty that galvanized colonists into fighting the Revolutionary War.