There are some similarities in the two labor systems: both involve importing labor, and the laborers are often sent to plantations, which need a larger labor pool than what is available locally.

The differences between the two systems are quite striking, however. Indentured servitude involved a finite working contract, as the people involved were trying to pay off their passage to the New World. As more people could pay off their passage, indentured servitude became less common. These people were largely white. Many of them died in the New World due to mosquito-borne diseases.

Slavery in the New World usually involved Africans, though some of the earliest colonists tried to use Native Americans as slaves. Slavery in the New World was generational; whereas one had to give up their indentured servants after their contract ended, one could keep slaves for their entire lives and keep their children as well. African slaves were less likely to die of mosquito-borne diseases. Slaves could be bought and sold in ways similar to livestock. Slaves were not given any rights and were further oppressed in order to prevent escape or revolt.

As cash crops in the South became more profitable due to worldwide demand, slavery increased to the point that the South had more millionaires than any region of the United States by 1860, though most of this wealth was tied up in slaves and land. Slavery was also treated as a moral issue in the United States, whereas indentured servitude never threatened to tear the nation apart.

There were some similarities and some differences between slaves and indentured servants. One similarity is that both groups had to work for another person. As a result, their owners determined how good or how bad their working conditions would be. Both slaves and indentured servants got their basic needs covered. Their owners provided them with food and shelter. They often worked in the fields of their owner.

There were some differences between a slave and an indentured servant. An indentured servant signed a contract for a specific period of time. In return for getting transportation to the colonies, the person agreed to work for that individual for a specific period of time. After the contract was completed, the indentured servant was freed and was paid a bonus that was agreed to when the contract was signed. Slaves were slaves forever. There was no contract, and there was no end date of being a slave. Thus, the indentured servant had something to look forward to after the contract was completed. The slave would remain a slave forever.

There were some similarities and some differences between indentured servants and slaves.