Anonymous
Semantics.
Anonymous
There's often differences in how the people can be treated. However, the two most salient differences have to do with the permanence of the institution. Indentured servitude usually existed for a set period of time. Servants were often paying back some sort of debt which had been incurred and they were expected to work a set period of time to repay it. After that period they were free to go. In some cases, indentured servants were even given payment, in cash or land, once they completed their term of service. Slavery was usually considered permanent (at least as the defacto state. People could find ways to get themselves manumitted). The other difference was heritability. In the Atlantic slave system (which is what you're probably asking about), slavery was inherited from the mother. A child born to an enslaved woman was a slave themselves. That wasn't the case with indentured servants. Their servitude extended only to themselves and children which they had would be considered free.
Elaine M
Indentured servitude has an ending - either the debt is paid off by the work done, or the time limit is up.
DiStefano
It is was a contract that it was only for a shorter time being
u_bin_called
Indentured servitude meant you own a person's labor. Slavery meant you owned the person.