The narrator, an orphaned 20-year-old in 1720, is deciding which colony to travel to as an indentured servant. The Southern colonies are unattractive due to a high mortality rate from disease and harsh treatment of indentured servants on plantations. The New England colonies offer little demand for indentured servants and farming is less productive. Therefore, the narrator chooses the Middle colonies, hoping to work for an honest Quaker landowner and eventually receive their freedom and a plot of land, finding better opportunities than the other regions.