April Lopez

Document Interpretation 2
In the 1700s were slavery was a major part of living, a young girl by the name of
Elizabeth Sprigs was sent to Maryland to be a servant. Elizabeth was an English woman who
wrote to her father complaining of the conditions in which she was living in. She left home from
England to Maryland; giving up her freedom by paying for her trip by becoming a servant. In
her letter to her father she writes of the wrong she did, or her betrayal to her father. How she had
restrained from communicating before because of her unfaithfulness to her family. However the
conditions were too much for her to bear. Elizabeth wrote how conditions were unbearable, how
many of the slaves have no shoes and are almost naked, how the only comfort they receive is
after they have slaved for their master, and are able to wrap themselves up in a blanket on the
floor. Her reasoning for writing to her father is simple she wants him to send her clothes. She
knows she need help, and anticipates the love that he has for her to be what makes him decide to
help her in her troubled times.
During this time families in New England had been well off. The population was not
only growing, but had an equal male to female ratio, allowing for them to be able to repopulate.
Woman in this society were mainly wives, housekeepers, mothers, members of the church, and
some were small farmers. The man was the leader of the household. Together, with the rest of
the community, they farmed and gave their allegiance to their community. In doing this they
were able to establish a society that they could be proud of. This new society was one similar to
the one that they had previously lived in.
Elizabeth Sprigs left this society to find a new one, one she chose thinking she would
have a different life. It is my opinion that she felt she could do better than what her family was
doing, that she wanted to make her own choices and not live in a world where her father made
the rules for her. In her letter she refers to herself as disobedient. Leaving her family is an act
that I feel constitutes that opinion. I dont believe she thought servant life would be hard, or that
she would be a servant for long. She thought maybe because she was English and not a negro,
she wouldnt have it as tough and be able to end her term to begin her new life in Maryland. Life
had seemed so much better in Maryland because they were already established; they had a town
and community life. They system in which they were living in worked, and it was much better to
go join something that was already in motion than to be a part of something trying to make it off
of the ground. Elizabeth Sprigs made a decision to leave her family, to live a life on her own and
become bound to a life she did not expect. She needed help and the only help she could ask for
were clothes from her father.