And even this is BS. Something technically true that is actually false. Here's another angle on that -- the history that most are ignorant of. Maybe we could have a White History Month to teach this.
In the 17th century the average life expectancy (in England) was around 35 years. More accurately however, if one lived to 15 then one had good odds of hitting 50. BUT! A large number of those "transported" were teenagers, and many died on the trip. Why?
Because the exact same kind of ships, and sometimes the exact same ships that were used in the slave trade were used to transport criminals from England to the colonies. And criminals could be transported (or hanged) for a variety of things that today would be considered misdemeanors. The magistrates were paid money by the ship owners to assign petty criminals for transport (in preference to hanging.) "Trials" were often held in the magistrates living rooms or a private office, where 12 year old kids were convicted of the crime of petty theft - stealing so they wouldn't starve to death. The local "watch" or cops would get a kickback from the magistrate. The ship captains would then sell their "indentures" when they got over here.
The death rate on the transport ships was similar to the slave ships. The conditions were the same - the transportees were chained down and packed into the holds. Where the African slave ships were hot, the Northern route was COLD (and wet.) Many died of lung congestion and fevers. While fewer transportees died on a ship that made it compared to the slave ships, because of storms in the North Atlantic more ships were lost entirely, which tended to balance out the total losses as being about the same.
When a transportee had their indenture sold, it was normally for a period of seven years. The men were often used for clearing land and other hazardous activities, women were often used for prostitution, although many were used for house servants. However, in many cases the indentured servant had to pay for extra clothes, meals, etc. Thus their length of service was added on to the original seven years.
While the children of indentured servants could not be "sold", their parents could be charged for their childrens food, clothing, and housing, thus adding to the length of the parents indenture. Thus many indentured servants had many years added to their terms of indenture. The lucky childern would be apprenticed off around the age of 6 - 8. This was a good deal for them, because they could learn a trade and would be free. For those who weren't apprenticed, they would go on to be servants or laborers themselves.
Many transportees who were indentured never became free.
The above notwithstanding, the significant difference between the indenture system and slavery is that the children of the indentured servants could be free, and most were.