Honestly I don't believe there is much of a difference. Both institutions exploit groups of people for cheap labor and create and endless cycle of dependency. Slaves were forced into a system and never had any chance to escape. Fast forward a few years, and convict leasing, as described by Alexander, was a common practice in the Jim Crow era where released slaves would end up being sent to plantations with an endless cycle of debt. Ultimately I believe it was an evolution: the plantation grew into share cropping and convict leasing and presently takes the form of mass incarceration. However, instead of seeking agricultural profit, prisons are after utilizing the prison force to appease the desires of corporations. When looking online, I found