I am well aware of the history of indentured servitude and do not deny many did very hard work but there is a huge psychological burder they were spared which slaves had to face every moment. The former knew they would one day be free while the slaves realized freedom was for the vast majority an empty dream. Crushing the human spirit makes even light tasks seem onerous.
During the period of indentured servitude the colonies were still along the coast and none of the lands of the Cotton states were even in American control. Indentured servants did not face the conditions of the field hands there. Nor did they face the labor conditions the slaves had in the cotton fields. But it is true that the slavers would not use their slaves to do the most dangerous work such as clearing swamps for that Irishmen were hired.
Interesting about the cotton states. Maryland grew tobacco, a crop that depleted soil so rapidly that new fields had to be plowed all the time. They were always starting over, in a sense, draining more swamps, pulling more stumps. Yes, with great hope.
Today, as Condi Rice is announced as Secretary of State, my cousin is retiring as supreme court justice in a western state. Black and white, we all got to this day with impossible hardships, dreadful setbacks, chrushed dreams, broken hearts, lost loved ones, inhuman labor. Slavery was unbearable. So was trudging after wagons along rutted trails, burying your young-uns on prairies you'd never see again.
Story of America, my friend. Aren't we great!