In the 17th century, long ago, there was a man named Olaudah Equiano who was taken away from his homeland and family at a young age ; She kept a detailed diary in which she described the horrors of slavery, kidnapping and selling out at a young age. In this diary he included his memories of the sacrifices he and many others were forced to make for the English at Jamestown. Indentured servants were English men and women desperate for better opportunities but who had no money to travel to Jamestown. To make this happen they had to sign a contract that would cover their living expenses in exchange for work and after 7 years they would be promised to be rewarded with land and riches. Even after recruiting servants, the supply and demand for tobacco and other goods continued to expand and their only alternative was to travel to Africa and enslave the natives. These people were taken from their homes and forced to go to Virginia where they were sold to landowners and became their property without giving them any rights or freedoms; Kidnapped against their will and separated from their families, they were beaten, starved, and lived in horrific conditions, with nothing but one man to call master. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Although being a servant and a slave were two different things, it did not change the fact that both were treated harshly; They were mistreated, overworked, underfed, beaten and given no value. Although they did everything in their power to avoid being punished, mutilation to defend the domain was inevitable. On many occasions the treatment became so unbearable that they took their manners into their own hands and tried to escape. In the end this did not lead to anything good because they would be found and executed, or they would die while fighting for survival. Undoubtedly, they were both treated inhumanely, but the servants had that sense of security that allowed them to carry on because they knew that it would only be temporary, sooner or later it would end and they would be released to a better life. In conclusion, although we might say that serfs fared better than slaves, we cannot deny that both faced painful circumstances that potentially affected them permanently; especially in the position of these natives who did not have the power to be free one day. It was writers like Equiano who documented his and many other experiences that allow us to see firsthand what makes it more real that what these people experienced was absolutely horrific..