Does "severely punished" mean brutally mutilated in the case of the servants, Allen? And for the African slave, it didn't really matter whether or not they tried to run away, or if they were the best workers and most obedient of slaves. Their families were sold away from them for economic reasons, and the decision to sell spouses and offspring did not need to have any reason other than that.

Also, I don't think there was anything in the experience of indentured servants that could even come close to the horrors the African slaves experienced on board the slave ships, even considering how bad the conditions were on ships for Europeans who were extremely poor. The appallingly high percentage of slaves who didn't survive the crossing is ample testament to that fact.