Indentured Servants Were Slaves. Although the english later used racism to justify the enslavement of africans, the main reason slaves became the main labor force was because slaves were a better financial option than indentured servants. With no slave laws in place, they were initially treated as indentured servants, and given the same opportunities for freedom dues as whites.
These indentured servants represented the next wave of laborers. They were two entirely different legal and social realities. A woman who became pregnant while a servant often had years tacked on to the end of her service time.
During this time the cost of a black slave was about 130,000 dollars.
Unlike the situation endured by slaves, however, the state was an impermanent one for indentured servants. Indentured servants were often subject to similar mistreatment and exploitation as slaves, though unlike slaves their freedom was restored when the indenture expired. Masters were rarely punished for killing. Lives of indentured servants were undeniably grim but they were not chattel slaves.