In the American colonies of the 17th and 18th centuries, both slaves and indentured servants filled the need for a cheap source of labor for farms and plantations of rice, tobacco, indigo, and other crops. Both forms of labor were unpaid and both slaves and indentured servants were subject to mistreatment, unfavorable working conditions, and harsh forms of punishment. However, there were also profound differences between the lives of slaves and indentured servants.

Indentured servants were mainly people brought over from Europe for fixed periods of contracted time that varied from four to seven (or more) years. Their masters paid their fares across the Atlantic in full and provided them with room and board. This was not slavery, though, because at the end of their terms of contract, the indentured servants would be free citizens. Their masters typically supplied them with termination pay that might include land, food, weaponry, and clothes.

In fact, the first Africans brought to Jamestown in the early 17th century aboard a Dutch trading ship were given indentured servant status and eventually became free.

Due to financial expediency, slavery replaced indentured servitude in the Deep South and, to a lesser extent, throughout the rest of the American colonies. Slaves, unlike indentured servants, were treated like property. They received basic food and shelter and were forced to work long hours. They had no rights and received no education or freedom of movement. They had to obtain their master's permission before they were allowed to marry or have children, and at any time, their masters could buy and sell them, separating families in the process.

In conclusion, both slaves and indentured servants were subject to oppression and harsh treatment, but indentured servants were people in temporary service who would afterwards regain their freedom, while slaves were considered property for the duration of their lives and were rarely ever granted freedom.

In many ways, the lives of indentured servants and slaves were very similar to one another.  The indentured servants, of course, had more hope for the future, but slaves could in some cases actually have better conditions in the present.

Indentured servants and slaves were treated in broadly similar ways.  They were both brought to the New World in horrible conditions with many dying along the way.  They were both subject to physical punishment from their masters.  They both worked for no pay and with no control over their working lives.

However, indentured servants had a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.  They would, after a given term, become free.  This was surely a great comfort to them as they had to deal with the bad conditions of their daily lives.  On the other hand, slaves were worth more to their masters than indentured servants.  Slaves could sometimes expect better treatment because their masters had more money tied up in them.  Indentured servants, especially those reaching the end of their terms, were of little value to the masters and did not need to be treated as carefully so as to protect their master's investment.

Overall, then, there were many similarities between the lives of these two classes of unfree labor.

Compare and contrast indentured servants and slaves in United States history.

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.

Compare and contrast indentured servants and slaves in United States history.

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.