"Slaves" were not cheap from what i can tell, you the slave owner had to pay them with some scrip mechanism to avoid demoralization and worked productivty issues, feed them, clothe them, teach them language, teach them their job, you owned ALL the liability of the slave, etc. If anything, it was more expensive to have slaves back in the OT then it is to have FT employees today. People forget that with the ownership of the slave, the transfer of the liability had to go somewhere, it didn't just disseappear or anything