Indentured servitude was a contractual agreement and yes many early black “slaves” were actually indentured servants.
Anthony Johnson was the indentured servant who served his end of the agreement and went on to become the first slave owner in America (he was from Angola)
I have an ancestor who was captured and “enslaved” by the indians twice. The second time he decided to marry within the tribe. The tribe later split with my ancestor’s group choosing to take up farming and living in cabins like whites.
I’d bet that most Americans, if they search their family tree closely enough, would find at least one, if not more, of their ancestors came to Virginia as indentured servants.
As you point out, that was a contract. A very, very strict one, but a contract nonetheless. It wasn’t chattel slavery. That came later, mainly with the importation of black Africans.
Jim Beckwourth?