英属北美殖民地契约移民性质新论

契约工制度是近代早期英国工场手工业时代劳动力的普遍雇佣方式。当英国人在北美创建殖民地之后,契约工并非是作为奴隶被引进的。一方面,契约工制度的运作始终未超出英国社会经济制度与法律体系的制约,殖民地不过是英国国内经济制度和劳动力市场的延伸;另一方面,在契约从签订到实施的全部过程中,价值规律在契约工交易、劳动力价格和工资等方面都有所体现。各殖民地的法律体系不仅凸显了私有财产不可侵犯的原则,而且也对契约工的社会地位和权利做出了周详的规定。雇主为榨取契约工剩余价值的残酷剥削行为确实存在,但因此在契约工制度上贴上奴隶制度的标签却有失偏颇。

A New Discussion on the Nature of Indentured Immigrants in the Colonies of British North America

Indentured workers were widely employed in early modern craft workshops in Britain.When the British founded colonies in North America,indentured laborers were not introduced as slaves.On the one hand,the operation of the system of indentured labor never moved outside the constraints of the British economic and legal system,as the colonies were extensions of the British economic system and labor market;on the other,the whole process,from the signing of the contract to its implementation,always reflected the ...