All new arrivals received 50-acre land grants after they had paid for their passage.
The headright system set the rules for indentured servitude for the Virginia colony.
Indentured servants solved the problem of labor for the Virginia colony by creating pathways for young, unmarried men to come to the colony. The owners of land, needing labor, paid for the passage of men who would be indentured, meaning they would owe the land owner payment through labor for passage. Once they paid off of the debt, they would be given a piece of land to settle. This program helped to populate Virginia as well as ease overpopulation in England.