" 

 : Lena, the first problem with your question is the word ""treat."" If we boil down slavery to feelings or ""treatment,"" which are both subjective, then practically anything can be compared to slavery. ""Ugh, they treat me like a slave at McDonald's."" You see the problem? 

 Now, there are distinct legal differences between indentured servitude and chattel slavery. Granted, both are forms of unfree labor, but in different ways. Slaves inherently had fewer rights than servants, being that slaves were legal property and servants were supposed to be temporary contracted help. The servant was still legally a person; a slave was no more a person than a chair is a person. So, no, indentured servants couldn't be outright killed without their employers having to answer for it to a magistrate or in a court of law. In most jurisdictions, being that a slave was property that an owner had bought and paid for, that owner could do as he wished with their slave, including kill them. On the one hand, owners largely weren't held accountable for murdering their slaves; on the other hand, the murder of slaves who hadn't attempted to run away beforehand was rare, since destroying property one has invested money in is often against an owner's economic interests. 

 Obviously, as with any labor system, there are going to be examples of abuse, and indentured servitude was no exception. There are plenty of stories out of Barbados, for example, where indentured servants experienced particularly harsh levels of abuse during the 1700s. Nothing that I can find to the level of outright murder (because the servant was still a person with legal rights a person has), but physical punishments, overwork, and sexual assault were certainly common in Barbados (though, not really very common elsewhere). Common enough to the point that white supremacists online and off-line have perpetuated this idea that indentured servitude and slavery are the same thing, when they really aren't. The differentiation between personhood and property-hood is a very important one, in the legal sense."