ABSTRACT This article utilises the four letters of Richard Frethorne, a child indentured servant sent to Virginia in 1622, to reconstruct how children expressed conceptions of childhood in the early modern period. As this article argues, in his letters home Richard used specific attributes of childhood in an attempt to have his indenture redeemed. Moving beyond the adult voices that have dominated discussions of early modern childhood, this article argues that early modern children recognised their various positions in society and were able to use their specific status as children to exert a degree of agency and autonomy.

中文翻译：

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“如果你爱我，你会救赎我”：理查德·弗雷索恩家信中的童年策略

摘要 本文利用 1622 年被派往弗吉尼亚的儿童契约仆人理查德·弗雷索恩 (Richard Frethorne) 的四封信，重构了近代早期儿童如何表达童年概念。正如本文所述，理查德在他的来信中使用了童年的特定属性，试图赎回他的契约。本文超越了主导现代早期儿童讨论的成人声音，认为早期现代儿童认识到他们在社会中的各种地位，并能够利用他们作为儿童的特定身份来发挥一定程度的能动性和自主性。