Final answer:
Bacon's Rebellion prompted the transition from indentured servitude to racial slavery in the Chesapeake colonies. This shift was motivated by the concerns of wealthy White people over the growing alliance between Black and White servants during the rebellion. By replacing indentured servitude with Black slavery, White laborers were considered less troublesome, racial divisions were reinforced, and the hierarchies of power were consolidated.
Step-by-step explanation:
Bacon's Rebellion helped to catalyse the creation of a system of racial slavery in the Chesapeake colonies. At the time of the rebellion, indentured servants made up the majority of laborers in the region. Wealthy White people worried over the presence of this large class of laborers and the relative freedom they enjoyed, as well as the alliance that Black and White servants had forged in the course of the rebellion. Replacing indentured servitude with Black slavery diminished these risks, alleviating the reliance on White indentured servants, who were often dissatisfied and troublesome, and creating a caste of racially defined laborers whose movements were strictly controlled. It also lessened the possibility of further alliances between Black and White workers. Racial slavery even served to heal some of the divisions between wealthy and poor White people, who could now unite as members of a "superior” racial group.