The first aspect that we can analyze is the level of difference between African slavery and the European form of slavery. As these sources illustrate, traditional African slavery was very different on many levels from the European form of slavery that many are familiar with. Slavery in Africa, as previously noted, may be most closely associated with indentured servitude where slaves were often treated like family rather than treated brutally. According to the multiple sources discussed above, an important aspect of European slavery in Africa was the harsh treatment and dehumanization of its slaves in order to keep them subordinate to their European captures. Historians might wonder why European slavery was different from traditional African slavery.